Alive

When I walk by, do you see me?

Or a mirage?

Mother, sister, daughter, wife

You know,  a woman ignore; 
for her no love, nor tears; 
for her no space to play, to breathe, to live;

An object of lust, a prey

To stalk or kill at will.

My steps bound, my freedom

caged, subject to your rage

Less than beasts I live and die.

None to hear my cries

Few to feel my pain

Yet from within strength I gain

my fire burns bright and glowing

in my desperate world:

No,  I will not forsake

my true nature-

Beyond your known realms

I bloom like a lotus

Embedded in murk

Surging upwards to light.