The broken vow

On a rainy night
When everything was dark
There was no sight
Or a single mark

Mark of the sin that occurred
Just yesterday, not so long ago
But because she was a girl and so...
The man decided that she must go

On a rainy night
when everything was dark
When nothing was bright
And only the strays would bark

She was returning from her night shift
Then, a cruel shadow, a secret gift
Gift, colder than the midnight rain
When all her hard work went to vain

The years she fought to spend,
The exams she conquered,
The struggles she overcame---
All that labour went in vain.

All her labour went in vain
On that rainy night,
When everything was dark
She was 21
On her way for a long run

And soon enough the whispers began:
"What was she wearing that night?"
"She was definitely asking for it."

On a rainy night
When everything was dark
She had lost her life
With lots of marks

Marks on her character, purity
On her career and dignity
Marks that etched into her
So painfully

And yet people stop her
Stop her to voice out
Stop her to protest
Tell her that she's not pure
Not trustworthy, immature

Later that night
When the man
fulfilled his desires
He left her, alone, undressed

On that same rainy night
When it was pitch dark
She trembled in pain
Realising that now
The vow was broken

The vow to be the ideal
An ideal daughter who obeyed everyone
An ideal sister for every brother she met
An ideal wife who was pure before marriage
An ideal mother who sacrificed herself

Chasing the ideal
She forgot herself

Now in the midst of the rain
She now doesn't feel any pain
Because in death there's peace
For now, the trembling ceased---

For in the dark peace of death, there's ease