'Of Feminism And Cramps' by Mitalee Dabral

She walks up to me,

my little girl

with arched eyebrows

writhing in unfairness,

more in pain.

I sense her discomfort

physical and philosophical

and go on to explain,

“It’s a seed sown early

hence the roots grow deep,

a price we women pay

for life’s upkeep.

As nature prepares us

to sustain

by summoning these pangs

time and again.

It’s not our choice,

there is no cure

we are born in others’ pain

and ours we endure.”

But something tells me,

it won’t be long,

before these cramps come back

albeit in a different form;

when my not-so-little girl

will walk up to me

with arched eyebrows,

writhing more in unfairness

than in physical pain.

I’ll sense her discomfort, now philosophical

and will go on to explain:

“Yes, we women often need to put up a fight

because scales of social, economic and political equality

are seldom right

someone must tug at them

time and again,”

hoping, within

that the irony of it all

is not lost on her

and her arched eyebrows

always remain.