She paints her thoughts in colours that set her apart,
Hides her pain behind the ‘smart’,
Always enters with wits in her cart,
Likes to think with all her heart,
God forbid a girl likes art!
She works hard, weaves the frame,
Dreaming of being honoured with fame,
Yet all she gets is disheveled shame,
Why is she always the one who must bear the blame?
God forbid a girl has principles and aims!
At the dinner party, she must host,
Yet if she gives the toast,
They say it is only to boast?
Petrified of the judgemental ghost,
God forbid a girl should coast!
She’s told to sit up straight,
Behave like Barbie just for her date,
The one that always has to wait; smiling through all the hate,
What is she? Some sort of bait?
God forbid she’s a girl, not a saint!
Nurtures her gifts at her own pace,
Gleaming with joy to have finally found her space,
Yet still looked down upon like some sort of wretched disgrace,
Finds it ridiculous to take part in this incoherent race,
God forbid a girl should have something to embrace!
Surrounded by millions; yet still she feels alone,
Tortured by having to stay at home,
To everything woeful she’s become prone,
Even so, into an alluring woman she has now grown,
God forbid a girl walks on her own!
Tries so hard to get it right,
Yet never receives the spotlight,
And thus, she became uptight,
Learned that not everyone in a shining armor is a knight,
For all we know, God forbid a girl can fight!
She is humiliated for being thin,
Now she feels cramped in her own skin,
Even so, she rises; tosses those pessimistic thoughts in a bin,
Manages to conquer the fright within,
God forbid a girl knows how to win!
Seen as weak when she cries,
And thus, the hope of being accepted dies,
In a world that belittles, she dignifies,
Sooner or later, she surely defies,
God forbid a girl has become wise!
So here we are, lost in this maze,
Of norms, of prejudice, of borrowed praise,
Still she walks, unafraid of their gaze,
Refusing to shrink, refusing to laze,
God forbid a girl rewrites the phrase!
