Fallacy

Screams of a baby resounded in the hospital
A place of doom was a family’s place of joy.
They did not know the gender, they did not know the face
All they knew was, they had a bond, that no one could overshadow.

They doctor exclaimed with joy, “It’s a girl!”
Smiles and laughter echoed off the walls,
All but one smiled, the father cried.
He said it was happiness, but his eyes told a different story.

Nobody gave a second thought, not a second glance.
The mother lay cradling her firstborn in her arms.
She had been in pain, and now she was crying
As she held a part of her own flesh and blood.

The girl grew up quick,
Radiating happiness and laughter.
She was taken care of, not a scratch was let to marr her body.
Treated like a princess she was.

Beautiful and Pretty were mere words
She was much more.
Secured in her father’s arms, she did not know
The ruthlessness of the world.

Walking to school one day,
Alone and unafraid.
She did not know how cruel the world was,
She did not know what was about to happen.

Humming a tune of her own,
She had tuned out the world.
Till she faced a gang of men.
Her humming ceased,
And she wondered who they are.

The masked men came to her, and took her to their car.
They hit her and attacked her
They raped and almost killed.
All she knew was, she was fading away.

Thrown on the sidewalk,
People came to see what had happened
Nobody came to help.
Nobody, but an old man.

In the same hospital she lay, counting her last hours.
The family that had once smiled in the corridors
Was now in tears.
Sobs and incessant crying echoed off the same walls.

-Vaishnavi Sanap