Crushed Petals

~ Vignesh S Raj
Picture sourced from here

A gift of nature’s creation is she
As lovely as the petals of a rose
Spreading her joy and love to all
Filling the air with her fragrance.
A woman, is what she is called.
In total contrast to a woman is he
As prickly and dreadful as a thorn
Cutting deeper through her heart
Causing her to shed tears of blood.
He is called a man, a vile predator
For she is forever oppressed by him.
The petals make the thorns bearable
For if not for the beauty of the petals
Would have the thorns been charred
By the ferocity of the raging wildfire.
It is she who blesses him with a life
But do you ever realize that, my man?
Alas, you brutally want her to wither
You command the sympathetic winds
To sweep her dreams away for good.
You demand of the bright orange sun
To scorch her aspirations to naught.
You call on the warm-hearted moon
To soak her capabilities in darkness.
You order the innocuous dark clouds
To rain down and cover up her tears.
Yet, she bears them all, ever smiling
Since the time she were a naïve bud
Till she blossoms into a comely rose
So you could be a part of her garden
So you too could grow along with her
So you too could live because of her
Never bothering to make you aware
That you are nothing but her shadow.
But do you ever realize that, my man?

This poem is a take on patriarchy.

48 thoughts on “Crushed Petals”

  3. Woah. This is brilliant!

    “By the ferocity of the raging wildfire.
    It is she who blesses him with a life
    But do you ever realize that, my man?”
    These lines are especially furious 👏🏻❤️

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  4. Stinging and piercing, with
    Striking language extracted from the pleasure and pain of thought,
    And considerstion after deep meditation
    In the presence of Rose incense.

    For on the whole
    And yes in the norm
    Not oftly expressed with such veracity
    Coming from pen d
    dipped in rose coloured ink

    Buds, petals, thorns
    The whole rose bush would agree.

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  5. The petals make the thorns bearable
    For if not for the beauty of the petals
    Would have the thorns been charred
    By the ferocity of the raging wildfire.

    It is a revelation how women hide their pain in softness still.
    Lovely composition!! Great take on patriachy!

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  9. Vignesh, this is wonderful writing. Your words bring out the complexities of our society. Women are condemned to second-class citizen status. Oppressed by their own and others. Man has come from woman yet he considers himself superior. What ridiculous and backward thinking.
    Thank you for bringing this to the forefront. 🙂

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    1. Absolutely true. And even more painful is the fact that even a lot of broadminded men dont treat women as their equal. Women need to make a lot of noise to make the situation better.
      Thank you so much Terveen 🙂

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    1. Thank you so much Punam 🙂 Very pleased to see your comments 🙂
      Yes, this world would be a lot better if men took an effort to treat women better. Unfortunately, it seems to be a lost cause.

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  11. This was amazing, Vignesh! Loved the imagery, really powerful! It’s true, no matter how much we speak about equality, how modern we become, women are always considered inferior to men. I’m glad to see your take on this topic. Great work!

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    1. Absolutely. This is something the male community should be ashamed of any something which we should volunteer to change. But its easier said than done.
      Thank you so much AB 🙂 You are ever encouraging 🙂

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