Two Poems
By Tanushree Ghosh
She
She was fighting for something more important
Like a martyr misunderstood
Like a visionary seeing far ahead
She was living ahead of her time
I really want to believe she was content
Married to a man much poorer,
Bringing up imperfect children lacking in ambition
Children who wanted their mother to be home
Who wanted to be dropped off at school –
Idolizing gossiping housewives over social reformers
But why then her eyes were always searching
For an approval
Why she tried so hard – to make the rotis round?
Why didn’t she answer the pediatrician –
the ‘child psychology expert’ –
who knew for sure why we were sick so often?
Why did she apologize?
For not knowing what sabzi to buy?
Why did she sneer – struggling to find an answer – when everyone asked her to quit?
Why could she never say with pride
– I love my job more than my children?
***
Our Talks
Why are we not talking about
The children
Staring with starry eyes as you drive by,
Hoping you will buy a rose?
Why are we not talking about
The girls
Walking fast, eyes down,
Holding books to cover their chests,
Hoping you wouldn’t touch?
Why are we not talking about
You: watching your back as you walk with your wife,
Guarding her with your arm,
Hoping the crowds will disperse?
When will we start talking about
The men
Hanging onto their lives
Waiting for the rain gods to appease?
Why are we talking instead
About what he ate – beef or not?
Hoping no one will notice
What we are not talking about.
Painting: Jagannath Paul, The Moon
Bio:
Currently working in Tech as an engineer and engineering manager, Tanushree Ghosh is a mother, an activist, an artist and a writer. Her education has been primarily in the STEM fields (She has a PhD in Material Science and Chemistry from Cornell University and has worked at the Brookhaven National Laboratories). She is currently working on opening her organization – Her Rights and One Extra Meal (OEM) – to facilitate resource mobilization for women in need and help impoverished children. She is also a blogger for the Huffington Post. You may read her first post on Huff Post here. Link to her personal website for more info: http://www.thoughtsandrights.com.
***
Like Cafe Dissensus on Facebook. Follow Cafe Dissensus on Twitter.
Cafe Dissensus Everyday is the blog of Cafe Dissensus magazine, based in New York City, USA. All materials on the site are protected under Creative Commons License.
***
Read the latest issue of Cafe Dissensus Magazine on ‘Female Genital Mutilation’, edited by Rashida Murphy, Author, Perth, Australia.
Cafe Dissensus Everyday 
Leave a Reply