Written by: Dhun Vora

They said to cover up, so I did.

“Don’t speak unless spoken to”, so I didn’t.

“Keep your eyes cast low”, so I never looked a man in the eye.

But I already knew I was cheated by this fate of mine.

 

At 16,

I realised my body wasn’t mine to keep.

My choice was not mine to make.

My voice wasn’t meant to be heard,

And I was a woman in a man’s world.

 

At 18,

I was passed from my father to my husband.

Because my life wasn’t mine to live.

My decisions weren’t mine to make.

And again, my body wasn’t mine to keep.

 

At 20,

I screamed for mercy and begged for help,

But I was not a man,

So, the world was blind and deaf.

And too late, I realised what it’s like to be a woman.

 

At 30,

I could bear no longer.

I fought until I escaped,

And far enough that my life belonged to me again.

But not enough that my body felt mine again.

 

Decades later,

He died, while I was still waiting.

He was free, while I would be trapped in his sins long after my body decayed.

For he was something I was not; a man.

And as I closed my eyes, I finally realised what it took to be a woman.