27 September 2024

Mom's Teenage Photo

Wearing a black top and skirt. 
Standing beside her mom. 
The teenage photo of my mother, 
From an old album- 

Her gleaming eyes with dreams, 
Boats and untamed seas. 
It breaks me when I see her in 
The kitchen now. 

Maybe it is the story of all 
The moms. They capsize their 
Boats. Erase their seas. 
Forget it all for a compromise.

They should all gather in a 
Place one day. To stare at this
Singularity called society. 
Stare long enough till

All of us could understand. 
Leave understanding, 
At least acknowledge.
Stare enough till the guilt in us
Oozes out like an angry river. 

The guilt of confining them, 
The guilt of hiding their teenage
Photos from themselves. 
Guilt of killing their dreams and 

Guilt of how it has been a
Systematic genocide.