By Mishika Kapoor, 19, India
Those Scars
The scars prominent
Fevering the skin into dominance
The splashes still alive
Burning my heart from inside
Bruised face I hide behind the veil
Cause no one will stand for my pain
My eyes rain heavily
But emotions go silent
If I speak out people will talk
Such are the words I hear on loop
Will I hide all life
Covering my face can I survive
The revenge was baseless
Denial was my decision
But it wasn't respected,
I was abused, and lashes were painted on my face
A small ego destroyed my existence
For them it was a joke
But my whole life will rot
They are laughing while I cry in pain
I won’t sit behind bars
It wasn't even my fault
The guilt will cry
Many more like me will come out with pride
I will voice against the wrong
Acid attacks are not cool at all
The bruises burns the heart
Ripping the soul deeply apart
Fallen Stars
Sitting under the open sky
Gazing, as the stars fly
In the embrace of winters
Feeling frozen even around cinders
I think about the world
And my mind all swirled
A muse with the stars
The future bars.
My fallen stars
Jingling at my door while playing guitar
For I never wanted the story to end
YOU were a blessing to me, Oh Friend!
A magical spell so pale
Just like the fairy-tale
Of Prince, Princess and the Magic Hat
People said, ‘life isn’t like that’.
‘There are no wonderlands, no magic’.
But still I had dreams, such dramatic
My magic spell got shattered and frozen
Leaving just a soul completely broken
Which was mine, such a plight
Was the world right………?
Mishika Kapoor is a 19-year-old student studying Medicine who has had two volumes ov her poems published. “Being from India, I have seen women go through a lot since my childhood. Women choose to keep quiet due to societal pressure, and this is what I want to stand up for. I think women are no less than men, and men have no right to violate women or their rights.” Mishika wants to motivate women to speak out and change this patriarchal society. She has been writing since she was four, and her poems have been published in various national and international journals.