© Isaiah Rustad / Unsplash
"A simple 'No'; / How hard is it to comprehend?" This fifth poem by Mimansha Ranjan paints a picture that may be all too familiar for many women.
by Mimansha Ranjan
Contributor
Honesty is a mirror that we desire but are afraid to face. To choose between truth and lie is our favorite game. And no matter how badly we want to be honest; we are entangled in the web of deception and betrayal...
© Isaiah Rustad / Unsplash
She refused to go out with him;
He didn't understand,
She was not interested;
He was stubborn of a kind,
He kept thinking;
She would eventually agree,
To sleep with him;
She became a victim,
Of horrifying things.
She was not safe,
At her workplace;
She was asked to stay late at night,
She didn't want to be alone with him;
She kept denying,
He didn't realise;
She was being polite,
A refusal;
He should have obliged.
She should have explained,
A simple 'No';
How hard is it to comprehend?
She didn't want to get married,
She was perfectly fine,
Single and confident;
She was threatened,
She had to compromise;
She didn't long for a companion,
She didn't have a choice,
She was bounded by restrictions,
She was forced to tie
A bond, without love,
The love she didn't find.
She couldn't decline,
She didn't want a child;
She was not motherly enough,
To bear a new life.
She had her own plans,
She kept lying.
She did realise,
Her 'No' makes 'No' sense;
No matter how much she tried.
She was modest,
A prisoner of her conscience.
She should have said 'No',
When she was asked to compromise;
She shouldn't have kept quiet,
When she was forced to abort a child.
How could she say 'No'?
A word,
A theory; she could not compile.
She was expected to obey,
To abide,
She had to hesitate;
She could not reject,
She had to agree,
When her man forced himself
On her every other night,
He abused her daily;
She couldn't deny,
The family she despised;
She couldn't say 'No',
Her 'No' made 'No' sense!
She knew it all along,
But she kept trying.
...No is a word least understood. No is an answer that is rarely accepted. No is hard to say and harder to believe. No is fair and No doesn't have a hidden message. No is not wrong. It is loud and clear.
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