Believe her when she says,
that someone keeps following her to school.
Believe her when she disagrees,
to sleep next to her kin in the same room.
Believe her when she makes excuses,
to go out for dinner with her classmate.
Believe her when she evades plans,
for sleep over at a friend’s place.
Believe her when she tries to seek your company,
to drop her home safe.
Believe her when she fights,
to end her relationship which was fake.
Believe her when she makes an arrangement,
not to sit next to a stranger in public transports.
Believe her when she expresses reluctance,
to travel alone in the lower berth of a rail coach.
Believe her! Because someday she might find an alternative
to convey her untold stories this way!
Opened the gallery to relive the memories of her old times
An old picture in the night dress severed her radiant smile.
The unnerved fear which she had buried in the past times,
Again came roaring, flashbacking the whole sight.
It was at the dead of the night
When her consciousness was directed to a dreamy site,
Where, Cinderella was getting ready for the party night.
‘She chortled!’ As it was happy ending story time!
Suddenly, a callused hand gushed into her night dress,
Rolling down her body; stripping off her dress.
She reflexively turned the other side, obstructing the ravisher,
Despite resistance, the Devil remained successful in conquering her!
Her teenage was so new to her,
That she didn’t know lying next to kinfolk would become nightmare for her.
There she was exposed to her gender’s darker side,
Like every story-
‘She kept shut!’, and never spoke about that haunted night.
Pradipty Bhardwaj is a wildlife lawyer by profession and additionally works towards providing a safe environment for women at the workplace. She is an author of a warm and rustic narrative poetry book titled 'Pocket Staples' that portrays the relationship of humans with non-living objects. Her old-fashioned approach towards writing not only sends out a social message but also celebrates the simplicities of the earlier times.