Reverence Disguised As Violence Poem by Umasree Raghunath

She was told to stay at home and mind her place
Her world confined to the kitchen and the space
Her laughter buried beneath the cold walls
Her dreams locked away with no chance to fall

Her body was theirs her voice never heard
Her thoughts suppressed by their every word
In the name of safety they caged her life
Promised protection but gifted only strife

She wasn't allowed to step outside those doors
Her wings clipped gently with invisible sores
Every movement watched every step controlled
Her spirit imprisoned her heart growing cold

Her hopes were stifled her desires denied
As she kept her pain buried deep inside
The men in her life wore masks of care
But beneath that mask was cruelty and despair

She was their honor but no one could see
The shattered pieces of what once was free
Her smile was a lie her silence a plea
For freedom from chains no one could see

When she spoke they called it rebellion
As if her voice was a crime to be undone
And when she fought they called it violence
Saying she was ungrateful for their 'guidance'

Her body was theirs to command and use
Her thoughts theirs to control and abuse
But she held her tears and her voice broke low
For every word she spoke they would overthrow

Her dignity shattered in pieces so small
Yet she endured it all standing tall
But deep inside her heart cried with pain
For the woman she was, was never the same

They said it was reverence, a way to protect
But in their control, they only neglect
Her soul withers in silence so tight
Her existence defined by their endless might

She wishes for freedom, for a life to be whole
But the world keeps telling her to just play the role
Her spirit is aching her heart is torn
And each day she suffers from the day she was born

In the name of love they destroyed her grace
And locked her in a never-ending race
Her life was theirs to live or erase
A woman, a soul, trapped in this space

Yet through her silence, she screams aloud
For the world to see her not as a shroud
But as a woman, with power and will
Not to be owned, not to be still

Her reverence was mistaken for control
Her voice, her dreams, still take their toll
But one day she will rise from the pain
And break free from these chains once again

---Umasree Raghunath