LET ME BREATHE, LET ME BE..

All is fair In love and war, they say;

Yet biased and crooked, they most often stay.

They say they love you as their own

Will still ask you "Where’s your makeup gone?".

They tell you are too plain otherwise;

Too dark, too pale, too plump, too scrawny,

Too tall, too short - can't accept any.

Too much skin, too much attitude, too much ego;

They say doesn't make you a woman and to let go

Problem with any and problem with all:

Don't speak; the men are speaking

Don't sit; stand while the elders are!

Shush! You talk louder - do it like a lady;

Sit like one but don't cross your legs.

Don't stare, don't ask much, don't you dare;

But they say they still love you - beware!

This isn't fair; this ain't love.

We aren't fighting you as our foe.

Don't tell me when to marry, when to carry,

What to wear, how to eat and whom to meet.

Don't try to hold me in your clutches,

Or put me through troughs and ridges.

Let me free; I won't harm any.

Let me be; I won't wrong any.

Let me decide; I won't fool any.

Let me just breathe; I won't doom any.

If this is your fair, this ain't love, but just war,

You don't realise

You're waging against your own.

Don't serve me your looks

Don't kill me in your womb

Just give me books and let me school.

Don't curb my space in the name of virtue.

I hope you hear me, and don’t just forgo!

I cook, I clean, I care

I give, I carry, I bear

I fall, I break, I rejuvenate

I smile, I move on and don't debate.

Isn't this enough? Am I not tough?

Don't test me more, I am drowning ashore.

Nothing is fair

And none of this is love!

Can we just sit and talk like adults?

Can we be friends and not mere rivals? 

Can we let others breathe and coexist?

Can we not find fault or be sexist?

Let's stop this here

For a world full of love

Fairer and free of war

And accept us as their very own.

Let's just call for love

Not fair, not war, not less, not more;

Just all is fair in love and war.

- REHANA

#penbooksandscalpel

This is a part of Blogchatter's half marathon 2023