A Bunch of FlowersA Poem by ShameemAkhtar
I was born
By a beautiful day Mom held me in her hands People came to congratulate her Sharing her joy Giving her a bunch of flowers She thanked them And smiled Her face radiant She was happy As she clutched to her heart This bunch of flowers They placed me in the craddle Changed my clothes Powdered me Perfumed my sheet And decorated my craddle With petals from flowers I rolled around Cried a bit But then I stopped And smiled As I played with the petals From this bunch of flowers A few days later Dad came to take us home His face radiant A car stood in the street Decorated with balloons And bouquets of flowers Grandma waited at the door Grandpa stood by her Seeing us they smiled And kissed mom They caressed my cheeks and said Oh lovely little flower I was a little baby girl They placed me in the craddle Innocent I gazed up At something beautiful Hanging on the wall It was a bunch of flowers It fascinated me Beautiful pulpy red Hanging like a garland Though it was artificial Still it amazed me This bunch of flowers With love I grew up A lovely little girl In the garden Mom grew a lot of trees Amongst them, lovely roses And another bunch of flowers It brought me bliss As lovely red they bloomed I gazed at them and dreamed Of holding them in my hands I hasted to pluck Them bunch of flowers In a little more than haste I forgot, thorny it pricks It scratched my hands I cried as my fingers bled But still I loved them This bunch of flowers Dad picked me up Kissed me and dried my tears I hugged him and smiled As he cut off the thorns And gave me the roses Them bunch of flowers A year later It was time to go to school I didn't want to I wanted to cry But that class consoled me Decorated with flowers We started our lessons The teacher was good The friends were sweet But most important of all Amongst the drawings we were tought to do Was a bunch of flowers Further still we grew More friends we made We started to write letters And memories for our friends Prefering those papers once more With the smell and picture of flowers In the morning I'd wake Kiss mom and dad Have my cup of coffee and breakfast Prepare to go to school And drop by the garden To caress an smell those flowers The morning would pass by Like any other day School would soon end And together with friends We'd go home passing by the park Walking amongst the lane of flowers Soon I'd drop home And say hi to everyone But before that I'd water my plants And talk to those mute friends of mine Them bunch of flowers I'd play for some time And then go to do my homework Mom and dad'd make me revise And soon it'd be time to go to bed But before that in my vase I'd put a new bunch of flowers Days'd pass by It'd pass the same way Little by little I'd grow Always in happiness And life'd always be punctuated By a bunch of flowers Then one pretty day I realised I had grown up When I received a love letter From a boy I didn't know He asked me to date him His letter was accompanied by a flower I didn't love him And ignored the letter But then another day He appeared before me And asked me to marry him Presenting me a bunch of flowers I didn't love him But I was just too sweet I couldn't say no Or refuse his advances For each time he'd bring me A new bunch of flowers I finally had to accept And say yes For I respected his love And didn't want to offend him Or his love Certainly not his bunch of flowers He took me by the hands And pulled me into a garden Telling me how much he loved me How much I was beautiful Like this garden, and growing in it Them patches of flowers I was a bit annoyed As he tried to kiss me on my lips I tried to resist in vain For we weren't married yet But he placed in my hair A rose, a beautiful flower I felt bad and cried a bit A tear streaked down my face But he coaxed me and I believed him When he gently told me To look at that which he gave me Them bouquets of flowers I looked at him And smiled a bit I was impressed by his love He stroke my hair And I caressed the rose he gave me That beautiful flower Two days later He came home And asked dad for my hand He brought along with him A diamond ring And a bouquet of flowers When he left Dad asked my opinion I picked up the diamond ring And placed it away Dad got the answer When I picked up his flowers Two weeks later And it was our marriage He couldn't wait And was in too much haste Perhaps he had got wearied Of everyday buying flowers Everyone was happy Laughing and joking around It was a grandiose wedding With lots of light And decorated carefully With lots of flowers Mom took me away To get me ready I took my bath And dressed in my white robe Mom spread perfumes over me With the scent of flowers One hour later In the ceremony hall We made each other wear The garland we held Garlands so sweetly stitched With white silvery flowers It was soon time to go Dad and mom embraced me But brother was too occupied With his girlfriend and forgot my wedding In an attempt to clutch my heart in pain My fingers enclosed the garland of flowers As we moved down the hall Tears ran down faces The atmosphere was dense And I held my tears In guise of blessings onto us They threw petals from scented flowers May your life Be like a bed of roses Was its meaning From well-wishers This shower of petals Picked from beautiful flowers But perhaps they forgot That roses have thorns And the thorns prick more And we suffer more Than the happiness Brought by them bunch of flowers Hand in hand Down the lane we walked Me holding my tears Down the street Awaited a pompous car Decorates with balloons and flowers Once we reached his home T'was the same show again His families and friends Were waiting for us As soon as we arrived They bathed us in a sea of flowers But amongst them all His sister gave me some comfort She was a woman afterall And understood my feelings She came over and kissed me Welcoming me with another garland of flowers It was our marriage day And he was in too much haste He pulled me in the room As everyone stared at us The room was decorated With so much flowers I looked around And advanced towards the bed It was in the centre Arranged with great skill I approached it and the sheet Was adorned with such beautiful flowers I turned around to say something But he had already undressed He put his fingers on my mouth Before I could say anything Led me to the bed And took off the garland of flowers He undid my hair and undressed me I'd have preferred a bit slower A bit more cautious That was my last day as a virgin It happened And that's how I got deflowered I don't know if it was bliss Or a little pain But I felt uneasy My body was sore Like crushed in a hand I felt like the poor flower I wasn't so sure And needed to be reassured I turned towards him But he had already dozed off I felt lost as I brushed off From my body a petal of a flower I went to take a bath And wasn't sure of my feelings A tear tickled down my face I felt disillusioned As though a dehydrated petal Shed off a beautiful flower The whole of the next fortnight Was in fact honeymoon We passed it in a hotel In the pardise of Switzerland In the warm sea And by the patches of flowers Within those two weeks Was my birthday It reassured me We had great fun We cut a cake And he offered me a flower It felt so good And was so reassuring It was the same Only a few persons had changed The cake was still the same As was the flowers We came home And he really surprised me When he showed the bedsheet To all his families and friends The one with the blood on it Onto which had stuck some flowers I felt ashamed Humiliated In my heart I cried I felt cheated Robbed from its nectar Like a poor flower He went to work I stayed at home Cause he didn't let me work I tried to console myself Tending my roses Watering my flowers At night he came Tired from work He pulled me into the bed I wanted to talk to him But he was too occupied I felt as helpless as a flower being cut He stripped me of my clothes I felt like a mere sex object But I letmyself do Cause I was the wife and loved him Each night this happened I never got to talk to him, being deflowered One dreadful night I was having my period But he was too occupied to listen His sperm mingled with my tears And trickled onto that which he had brought me A bunch of flowers I cried a lot that night I felt like I was raped But lawfully he was my husband And he had that right He loved me afterall Cause each nighht he brought me flowers Then one day I told him I was pregnant I thought he'd be happy But he had better occupations Than caring for a child In anger he knocked over the vbase of flowers I was hurt For he told me to abort I was so lost I didn't know what to do I felt like that awaiting to be cut In bloom, a pulpy red flower I never knew When all my happiness Had turned into pain I remembered then How would wither All my flowers And at that thought A far gripped me I felt insecure What if my husband leaves me Afterall, I always replaced All withered flowers But I tried to console myself For I was a human afterall Like all other people Not that which we pluck one day And discard a few days later A vulgar flower He left home in anger Swearing at me Vowing never to come back I was hurt a lot Tears rolled down my eyes As I picked up them flowers I was very depressed And didn't know what to do I couldn't tell mom or dad I just had to wait That he comes back someday Like a wild rose suddenly bloomed I never lost hope Cause I had no other options And then one day oh joy He accepted the baby And came back home Giving me a huge bunch of flowers Life was bliss then Better than I had imagined The baby was born A little boy And he too was welcomed In a sea of flowers Oh life was so sweet again He came home early And took care of the child I got relieved a bit And got to talk to him more often Life was like a bed of roses After so many years We went out together For a little picnic by the river It was just so sweet Son would play football Trodding over patches of flowers I remembered then Happier days with mom and dad Them outings by this same river Except that before it was livelier And I went looking for lilis Instead of trampling on the flowers But it was happiness anyway I rested against his arm And watched son play Though he was not listening I counted to him my childhood Passed by the side of these same flowers Alas my happiness Wasn't to last long He lapsed back again With the stress at work He began to take alcohol And even forgot to bring me flowers Then one dreadful day We had our first argument He hurt me a lot with his words Son clutched my legs in fear But he was sorry And gave me a flower the next day But it was to grow worse One day he came home He was completely drunk He beat me real badly He broke on my back A chair and the vase of flowers I was badly hurt And was admitted to the hospital But what could dad and mom do They were too old now Anyway he came to see me and was sorry Cause he brought me a bunch of flowers Brother was too occupied I wonder if he even remembered me He had no wife or children But passed his nights at the brothel Showering onto prostitutes Money and scented flowers When my husband came I wanted to tell him to go away I wanted to take a break And stay away for some time Sign the divorce papers And throw his flowers in his face But once more I was too sweet Where'd I go What would happen to my son How would I live Finally I had no other option But to accept his flowers I was oh so wrong One night he brought his friends home And till late theydrank till the last drop And together they raped me My drunken husband laughed I felt like the petals arrached from a flower There was no limit to my pain But my son held me in that home So that a week later When he brought another woman home I felt nothing, a stone at heart I was like a flower devoid of smell I remained silent And didn't say anything I bore all his atrocities And walked as per his orders I had lost hope and feared him And accepted all his apologies and flowers What could his parents say I doubt they would be proud of him They themselves had no power To tell him anything, forget defend me For he had placed them in a pension And sent them flowers everyweek What could this world Ever say to such a man He loved his parents so much That he sent them away from home Occasionally sending them some food Along with some flowers A few days later And it was much worse Devil had got on his head He banged me against the wall And choked me a bit But the next day he apologised with a rose A week later I wasn't my birthday Nor our marriage anniversary Or any other special day But once more He brought me some flowers This bouquet was the best of them all For it was the day of my funeral He had finally beat me up to death But I know he is sorry once more For there he was, smartly dressed Holding a ring of flowers Would you call that murder No one would ever believe that They had such a high opinion of him For he loved me so much He never spared an occasion To present me some flowers Only then did I come to realise How they were all a hypocrite From my birth till my death They all gave me flowers But they are in fact hiding their hypocrisy Behind the beauty of them flowers They prepared this day To get rid of my body They gave me my bath And wrapped me in my final cloth But even then they did not forget To decorate my death-bed with flowers I always got flowers for sure But that's not what made my joys Nor did that explain my pains In fact as a pretext And a cover for their lies They used them flowers Look at them Thought I in my heart As I watched over them Even on this day When they should have prayed for me They are only worried about giving me flowers My heart cries As they put me in my grave And then cover me up with soil If only I had picked up some courage Thought I as they planted over my tomb Some more flowers again But for once They did to me something good For it lessened the pains I ought to feel in the grave I get some relief from the prayers Constant, of those lively flowers And for once I awaited for the gardener to come For as the leaves dry up I feel more pain Watering them relieves me more Than they give vitality to the flowers Very soon They all forgot me Once in a year A friend would drop by Giving me a visit Bringing me a bunch of flowers I lost all contact with the material world And down here I wonder What are we women made for To come as a toy on this earth Get kicked around And coaxed with a bunch of flowers Down there I realise Roses have a lot of beauty But they have thorns too Thoses thorns do not lessen its beauty But rather serves as a protection For those lovely flowers It's too late now that I realise Almighty God's Greatness He has given us The power to protect ourselves All the while keeping our image As a beautiful flower It's too late I will not get a second chance To go on earth and lead life correctly For God had given us proper Guidance Lessons which we neglected Enclosed in those flowers I want to warn others But though I hear them They can't hear me I can't tell them what I want I feel like that which can hear but not reply A mute bunch of flowers Many years later A gentle man passes by I feel a strange pull in my heart I recognise him, he's my son He has come to see me He holds a flower in his hand But oh, how I was disillusioned There was a girl by his side No, don't do that, I cried But the same blood ran in his veins Afterall he had grown up with his father And he handed to her the flower Desperate, I cried a lot But tears did not flow Women are human beings too They too have feelings and needs Why don't men understand that And reduce their life to mere flowers Within this lifetime of mine I never got to know When had changed into fear Giving me nightmares This love I had for roses And all other flowers It's true Flowers to me Were no longer the bliss That they once used to be Often my nightmares Would include patches of flowers But somewhere there was hope Still living in my heart For I trusted God And his judgement Not all'll err like I did Giving excess importance to flowers I looked at my son And my heart and soul felt it He was not like his dad He had learnt to respect The opposite gender His flower was a sign of love, not lust They would form a happy couple Their marital life would be a success And that was a mother's feeling It never made any mistake They would complement each other Like the bee and the rose Lying down there All alone and forgotten I felt relaxed and relieved Cause my sacrifice I knew Will not have been vain My flower had to bloom someday And somewhere inside I felt a joy sprout A joy so different from the rest My own son would lead the fight AND I WAS GRATEFUL TO GOD THE WAR FOR JUSTICE WAS UNDER WAY! © 2011 ShameemAkhtarAuthor's Note
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Added on September 2, 2011Last Updated on September 2, 2011 Author
ShameemAkhtarPort Louis, MauritiusAboutProject Manager, Catalyst Business Solutions slave of the modern world and demands of an overwhelming job... more..Writing
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