O F   B A T T L E S   &   W A R S

Saira Banu

Of battles we fought inside

Like swirling whirlpools

Never allowed to spill

Always dripping

Not parched, but never full

Unlike the wars they indulge in

Gushing forth like a tsunami

Washing over battles,

For the victory of the war.

Of battles that are fought

Over tears shed

For fathers, and brothers, and lovers,

Of the wars they fought

Over the honour

Of what lies between our legs.

Of battles fought quietly, demurely

As is expected of our fights

The carnage, our dreams,

The spoils, their might

Unlike their wars

Unlike the havoc they wreak

Claiming the laws of the universe

Of the battles we endure,

Of all that we ration

As the wars they fight

Steer out of their bastions

The wars they wage

While we salvage.

Of all the battles provoked

The ones we did not want to fight,

Of the wars we were dragged to -

A display of their spite.

Of the battles they fought

But claimed were wars,

Of our war

The one waged everyday

Against the world

Against us

Against war in itself.