Keep Running
by P, age 13
At times I think maybe I should quit everything,
This loneliness, this weird feeling.
I don’t know what I am doing,
I just wanna keep running.
Run from the insecurity,
the falsehood, the impurity.
I always keep doing more,
But I end up being called a whore.
I don’t want to bother anyone,
all my pain is in this messy bun.
I want to sing, I want to dance,
all I want is another chance.
I had my reasons,
But people change just like the seasons.
I believed, that all I did,
For god’s sake, I am just a kid.
I wanna keep running,
oblivious of what I am becoming.
At times I think maybe I should quit everything,
This loneliness, this weird feeling. 🙂
P
Response to P from Rhea
Dear P
Thank you for sharing your poem with me. When I was reading it, I realised how many girls go through this and I wanted to share my letter to “shaming:”
Dear Shaming,
I know you have special tricks that you use to convince girls that they are dirty and worthless. You have been telling us from childhood that we have to be “good girls” and “good girls” do not laugh loudly (jo hansi wo fansi) or dress up in a way that attracts boys to think we are “loose” or “characterless”. You use shame to hold us down so that we have no voice and no say. I want to tell you that I am not going to follow your rules of being “good girl” anymore. I am also not alone, I have my friends and my mother and we all believe that it is extremely unfair that we have been made to believe that we are less than boys and that we are responsible for their actions. So stop spreading rumours about us and talking about us behind our back. Even if you do, it does not matter – we have learned a way to mute you, “Stop spreading lies, slut shaming! We do not believe you.”
No need to keep a watch on us. Watch out for yourself!!
And Dear P, hope this letter shows you that you are not alone. You wrote:
“I want to sing, I want to dance,
all I want is another chance.”
What is the song you would like to dance on, what song would you sing? If you tell me then maybe I could sing and dance the same one too. See, you are not alone ☺
R
