A poem by Chitrangada Lahiri 

Beyond the Scars

“You are so pretty.”
She smiled, eyes depicting another story….

Old facial scars, carefully  concealed.
Slashes on her wrists, under full sleeves.
A broken nose, long mended.
Burn marks, underneath the dresses.
Reminder of every slap, punch and kick.

Added expletives, in her vocabulary.
Years of abuse, and things gory.
All the misery and every pain.
Endless humiliation, degradation and disdain.
Remembrance of a past awry and bleak.

Mind conjuring, forgotten images.
Unbearable violence, broken promises,
Heart bleeding, internal damages.
Conflicting emotions, dark blemishes .
Reminiscence of tears, cries and shriek.

“You are so pretty.”
She smiled, mended soul portraying history.

Chitrangada Lahiri, spent her early childhood reading novels and dabbling in poetry. The love for literature and passion for language paved the path towards her becoming a French teacher. She believes that poetry is the reflection of a poet’s soul and prose an amalgamation of the writer’s heart and mind. During her free time she pours her emotions on paper, as she writes whatever comes to her mind. And reading is a part of life, a novel and a poem, a daily ritual before bedtime without fail.