Colored Girl

a poem by Rajdeep Gupta

Hurt and betrayed by the wings of destiny,
She chokes in disdain,
An infant she was, laid in the streets of Mumbai,
Maa, baap ka pata nahin! everyone smiles

To survive, she strayed and begged
And at night slowly crumbled under the sheets,
Long nights and days passed, as seasons unfold,
Hush and silence prevails in the years fold

She struggled and managed to wear old clothes,
But one thing- taste of studying,
Street lights and she sits all night studying

Grew my honey! and managed to scramble a degree of versatile,
She looks for job, but the world has other eyes,
They peep through the clothes,
They want flesh, not degree my child!

Hurt she was, but managed to scramble a job,
Wee hours, she strolled in for a walk,
Insane they were, found out something, no identity,
Her parents curse had befallen upon.

Lost her job, forsaken by color,
She looks above, and ask, “is there a justice?”
Hurt and betrayed by the wings of destiny,
She chokes in disdain,
An infant she was, laid in the streets of Mumbai,
Maa, baap ka pata nahin! everyone smiles