G - Ganga

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Be careful, my Mom warned me 

I was no longer a little girl 

Nor was I yet a woman 

I could no longer wear shorts

The knee length skirts, they had to go too

No more figure hugging t-shirts 

My breasts were developing you see 

You must stay away from temptation 

I followed all these rules rigidly

Still why was I being passed lewd comments

While walking down the street?

Why the wolf whistles and cat calls?

Weekly once a month I bled and bled 

Impure, I was brandished by all 

Confused by a betraying body 

I turned around me to seek clarity

But again I was told off 

For wanting to know too much

Concentrate on your studies 

Half baked things were fed to my ears

Oh Mom, why didn't you tell me the truth 

Didn't I deserve at least that?

Why did I have to learn it the hard way?

Why did it have to be through an act of betrayal?

That it was the skinny boy that I didn't even like

Showed me what it was to be a woman

That the things he did to me 

Made me feel ashamed than desired

Why didn't you tell me that  

I would wake up screaming for weeks

Or that it would be years before I even begin to heal?

And that my body would never be the same ever again

Why didn't you tell me that there were monsters not under the bed 

But in the corners of our home and street?

Was that what the being careful in your warning meant?

Who is to blame? Is it me or is it you?

Linking this post to the A to Z Challenge.