The devotees chanted and cried mystical hymns as
they offered the Great Heavens, a mortal
A soul too young to mother
A soul too perplexed to fathom.
Her gaze dampened with tears of duty
The hollow bags under her eyes sucked her sorrow into an etch of black
My revolt denied to cross the walls of my throat.
My nerves shivered and my world sank beneath my feet
To watch a ritual was enticing but
To clench through horror was different.
"Oh! Good Heavens" I cried
Let her have the luxury in paradise
she was stripped off here in hell.
She tried to utter a cry but the crude ember
started to feed on her
He put her hands on her and slowly her holiness was rinsed off by his evil.
Her fair white pearl like skin boiled under her saree
Her hair that ran like waterfall curled into fiery strips of fume
We could smell the putrid but they smelt fulfilment and the whirl of a complete cycle
Her dead husband was already blackened and reduced into specks of coal
Her flesh melted under her own eyes-
The men who desired her youth once were struck by the contours of a ghoul.
Half the grown ups turned away
Not with remorse but with a smug and I-
Too baffled to move, watched the last skin on her drip into nothingness
A month before- I had seen her dangling with mischief
under the branch of the village tree
A day ago I had seen her willingly putting a smile to become a Sati
A few minutes ago I heard the shriek of burden
Now, I see a mould of coal before me
That was the last I had seen my sister.
-
Author:
GG (Pseudonym) (
Offline) - Published: August 11th, 2025 04:45
- Comment from author about the poem: Sati was a henious crime that existed in the pre-modern Indian culture. Although banned, some shimmer of this gross ritual still lingers in our society.
- Category: Religion
- Views: 6
- Users favorite of this poem: sorenbarrett, Priya Tomar, Poetic Licence
Offline)
Comments3
A cultural, religious, spiritual, ritual poetically spoken in vivid and graphic images. Compelling, revolting, emotional with an ending twist. A fave
Thanks for faving! Much love
I am a great fan of myth, religion, culture and history and this one fall right in there and was very nicely written well deserving the fave which I do not give out lightly but merited here
The scene is dancing in my eyes.
Every line of this poem full of tragedy .
Bitter truth of our culture......
Let's pray for positive changes in our country and may such abomiable practices never take it's root again
Yes. We will never let those social devils breed.
It is such a horrific, brutal, revolting part of a culture, but the author has expressed it beautifully in this write. A very sad reminder that some people still hang onto rituals like these
Its a shame for any community/ group to follow such heinous crime in the name of culture. Glad you enjoyed the write
You are very welcome
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