*
She walks as a liberal icon among people
who don’t realize their thoughts
are their barbed wires.
She’ll march the streets for the disenfranchised,
and maybe for those born with ugly faces,
but not for them who have the talent for picking the wrong men.
What about her?
She puts on a self-assuring act like she has a plan,
like she’s yet to pick a man on her own terms.
Her choice of weapon is the feeling of exhilaration that
comes from being hopelessly free
and it shows as glad throbbing in her eyes.
She is the only one for her child.
And she knows that all too well, because
he lifts her sense of self in the mirror.
When she walks into any room, she’s a vision,
dazzling like a field of daisies,
while still delicate as a single stem.
Wild thoughts of a cigarette put a quiver on her lips,
while making her dangerous from deep inside.
Just as suddenly, she wonders if she’s being judged?
You still want to know what’s difficult about
the ambivalence of living a single woman’s life?
Her predicaments can both confuse and console.
*
Do I show restraint
or live recklessly?
Should I’ve to pick between career and family?
Do I #EmbraceAmbition
or skydive when I already have all this freedom?
Should I live with purpose or shop intentionally?
Do I tighten my lips around foods
or seek refuge in them?
Should I take him back or seek new men?
Will I be judged if I show my solidarity to a man,
Yet watch female love scenes,
all night in bed?
Will I turn into my mother, if I clean up
these leftovers and clothes I chose not to wear last night?
They’re destroying my inner peace.
How’s one to welcome daybreak with whispers of
laughter and spend all this love
that’s turning into smoldering piles of passion?
The screen in my palm shows me the possibilities.
As a woman, I’ve the right to choose –
To swipe to the left or to the right.
“Hello, anyone out there, who claims to treat me fair,
and replace my freedom with a set of diamonds?
I have so much to give away, and so little time…”
* * *
About The Article Author:
Our mission with FutureSTRONG Academy – to grow children who respect themselves, their time and their capabilities in a world where distractions are just a click or a swipe away.
I see myself as an advocate for bringing social, emotional and character development to families, schools and communities. I never want to let this idea out of my sight – Our children are not just GPAs. I’m a Writer and a Certified Master Coach in NLP and CBT. Until 2017, I was also a Big Data Scientist. In December of 2044, I hope to win the Nobel. Namasté.
Write to me or call me. Tell me what support from me looks like.
Rachana Nadella-Somayajula,
Program Director & Essential Life Skills Coach for Kids and Busy Parents
Poetry
When Home Is Still Here And We Aren’t
* Unlike refugees, who don't have a home behind or infront of them, we have a home. But, Will it remember all those mornings that the woodpecker made mating calls from its roof?How on sleepless nights, someone read and made notes from a borrowed J....
ప్రియ శరణార్థీ! నా జీవితం ఇలా నడవనీ.. (Dear Refugee, My Life Must Go On..)
* * * The original English version: Dear Refugee, my life must go on.. This poem appeared originally in The Saaranga Magazine HERE. * నన్నల్లుకున్న వెచ్చని కార్డిగన్, మెత్తని నా అరచేతుల మధ్య పొగలు కక్కే ‘లికరస్’ టీ........... పౌర హక్కుల్ని...
Why Darkness Can Be a Gift
* If a person has any greatness inside, it comes to light, not in one flamboyant hour, but in the ledger of one’s daily work.~ Beryl Markham * Years ago, you had looked up to see if anyone loved what you wrote.You tried to look in their eyes to...
Dear Refugee, My Life Must Go On..
* * * The translated Telugu version: ప్రియ శరణార్థీ! నా జీవితం ఇలా నడవనీ.. This poem appeared originally in The Saaranga Magazine HERE. * It's not too unthinkable,sipping licorice tea in my cardigan,And day dreaming of a life of civil liberties....
Momentous: A Poem On The Value Of Time
* It's not the lack of money that makes me cry like my heart is about to burst.You want to know what it is? It's something you have or don't more than I do, because there's no straight finish line here.It ticks away silently mocking our indignant ways...
Perceiving My Anthropology
* I don't know what moves him.I remember the day he came back home tohide his red eyes behind that newspaperafter he lit his mother's pyre.This is the man, the brunt of all my emotions,whose lifetime fits in this poem. It's mostly the appalling nature of...
To My Estranged One
* Ok, I admit; I still have that shameful longingness.When you gathered everything else up and left me to myself, And, when the war of words ended, It was clear that the love between us had begun to show cracks.It would never happen to me, was the conviction I...
Yours Singularly
* Always close by my side, he mocks me.Calling the lack of endearment around me,self-inflicted.Late in the afternoon, at work,“All these people around you need you tobreak their bread”, he mulls. At the bar,he demands to knowwhy I hadn't invited myself to her...
Still Standing, Still Standing..
* The below is a first person account of a village tree who lost the friendship of a small boy to the big charm of the city.. * At day break, I wait for your shrill cries of laughter to pierce my ears..I ponder while I drink the primary cocktail,a...
Dear Sons: Full Disclosure
* A life's worth of choices. Subjected to, day in, day out.Freedom of expression. Empathy exercises. Vulnerability followed by weakness. Protection from cold. Letting the homeless die from it. Health of the children. Love. A gentle kind word. People who didn't...
Now – A Poem on Time
* Of all the things I have and can desire to have, my time on this earth, and the time my kids will have of mine is finite. I am mindful of that. What I am also painfully mindful is that I do not choose well how I spend it. As an adult, time and the freedom to...
Child Bearers of the World
* Distracted mothers create loneliness.Those children celebrate uncertainty.And out of the imperfect first steps,They quickly thrive and learn, no love is earnest. Fathers cry when planes disappear.Worlds unite to search the heavens and oceans.Nothing...
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About The Article Author:
Our mission with FutureSTRONG Academy – to grow children who respect themselves, their time and their capabilities in a world where distractions are just a click or a swipe away.
I see myself as an advocate for bringing social, emotional and character development to families, schools and communities. I never want to let this idea out of my sight – Our children are not just GPAs. I’m a Writer and a Certified Master Coach in NLP and CBT. Until 2017, I was also a Big Data Scientist. In December of 2044, I hope to win the Nobel. Namasté.
Write to me or call me. Tell me what support from me looks like.
Rachana Nadella-Somayajula,
Program Director & Essential Life Skills Coach for Kids and Busy Parents