she's six
when he rips
the security blanket from her hips
and teaches her that safety is allowing him to slip
into her
undetected
unprotected
and he says
this is what it feels like
to always be rejected
so he corks his ears with this bottle of wine
and teaches her
that his love is sublime
he teaches her
that she should stop her cryin'
and he teaches her
that the smell of fine wine
means passion and love
and it fits like a glove
so at the age of six
she learns he is sick
so he teaches her
the art of keeping secrets
and he teaches her
its supposed to go that deep in
and he teaches her
that acceptance comes real cheap
and that he's the price
that she has to pay
to get the kind of love
he was denied all of his days
so she writes in Braille
on the side of her arm
knowing he's blind
to the concept of harm
and the Braille is a riddle
for the doctor to read
and she hopes he is blind
so that he can see
the lessons she's been learnin'
while the dinner has been burnin'
at her home in the oven
while her father gives her lovin'
while her mother keeps ignoring
that she doesn't hear him snoring
in the night by her side
in the dark
she chooses to be blind
so at six she has learned
that being blind is a position
of personal volition
when even having the cognition
we submerge into submission
despite an intuition
favoring the opposition
at six she has learned
that she could write a novel
but she didn't have to bother
learning Braille
because in a world that chooses
blindness over sight
so he can touch his daughter every night
no one reads to her anymore
they just tuck her in with her blanket
and shut the light
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 Rachna Vohra | |
| About the author: | |
|
Rachna means Creation in Sanskrit, so poet and writer Rachna Vohra
never denied this as her fate. The moment she learned that an extremely
rare species of butterfly shared her name, she knew she had found her
wings. Now, she writes poetry, spoken word, short stories, and children's books, and is working on a novel. Her published works include The Distance Within and The Acorn and the Caterpillar. Her work has been featured in anthologies, magazines, and zines, and she has performed at various spoken word events. She has recently begun exploring her South Asian heritage, as well as experiences of the feminine through her writing, and is passionate about colouring outside of the lines drawn, accepted, and perpetuated by society. | |
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