Επιμέλεια: Εύα Πετροπούλου Λιανού
It was midnight,
I was walking along a deserted street
Solitary but fearless,
Scanning the night sky,
I bathed in joy and acceptance
Of my smallness against the vast expanse;
Morning descended bringing in new hopes
I sat down in my favourite corner,
An emancipating space,
Hours passed and I wrote on and on
Unleashing my creativity,
My mind knew no boundaries
Unbridled, free…
In the evening
I met people whom I thought
Were bound by a common thread of humanity
Not separated by religion, caste and colour,
I conversed uninhibited,
They too talked fearing
No backlash, no prejudice.
In the garden of love
I entered, I sauntered,
Basking in the joy of companionship,
Unaware of subservience
Having never been subjugated,
Ignorant of violence,
Having never been abused.
I began to swing free
And sang out loud
Giving free reign to my beliefs, desires,
I returned home happy and at peace.
I slept but was woken up forcibly
And lo! I found myself gagged up,
Pent-up feelings choked me,
I couldn’t express myself,
My hands were tied and I couldn’t move
And there were many a face overseeing me
Eyes that judged
My garb, my body, my actions and my thoughts too!
They reproached me for dreaming,
They censured me for my words,
They disapproved of my actions
And when I asked with gestures where I was,
Somebody told me that I was in the land
That had imprisoned the souls,
Where mere bodies lived,
Chained unduly in the bottomless pit…
Shyamolima Saikia is working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Gargaon College, Assam, India. Besides several academic books, she has edited two anthologies titled Poetry Unites: An Anthology of Verse and Dhara: A paradise worth fighting for. She has penned two collection of poems titled Palimpsest and Paper Mache Dreams and a short story collection titled Heirloom: A Collection of Short Stories and Personal Essays. Her poems have been published in Borderless Journal, Muse India, Teesta Review, Yugen Quest Review and anthologies like Antargata, the Kali Project, Paradise On Earth: An International Anthology, Earth, Fire, Water & Wind A Poetry Anthology etc. Moreover, her short stories have been published in TMYS Review, SKIN: Flash Fiction First, Volume 2, Riverside Stories, Muse India among others.
