COMMENT | Pannir's poem for International Women's Day

1. Heaven,
   Invaded by silence..
   The shadows of Angels,
   No longer lingers,
   In the garden of Eden..

2. They are here,
   With you..
   With me..
   Among us..
   In disguise,
   Named as a woman,
   Came as a grace,
   To shine ablaze,
   Upon the human race..

3. Am I exaggerating it..?
   Yes.. I am..
   Because..
   Not even,
   The Angels of heaven,
   Could bear the burden..
   March along,
   The parade of fire,
   Rising the torch,
   To inspire without being tired..

4. Humanity N’ Procreation..
   Society N’ Civilisation..
   Community N’ Contribution..
   Love N’ Compassion..
   Self-Sacrifice N Patience..

5. Independence N’ Confident..
   Bold N’ Beautiful..
   Gentle N’ Strong..
   The list can go on,
   But let's move on,

6. They touched us,
   In every aspect,
   Throughout the histories..
   But.. I am afraid,
   The same can’t be said
   from our side..

7. Net of judgment..
   Clouds of doubt..
   Torrent of torment..
   Series of miseries..

8. All..
   Have been called,
   To fall as a wall,
   Imprison them..
   In psychological cage,
   N exploit them,
   As an avenue,
   To release our rage..?

9. The past,
   Is trying its best,
   To make a comeback,
   Its wounds..
   Still bleeds..
   Resolves to paints
   The picture of the future..

10. Even today..
    Lots of barriers,
    Are pressing down,
    Our everyday worries
    There’s never been,
    A peaceful time..
    In a real sense..
    we are still at war..

11. The quality of equality
    Is suffocating humanity,
    The air we breathe by each passing day’s,
    Losing its fairness,
    Polluted by..
    Debris of discrimination..

12. There are hidden tears
    Behind those smiles,
    Scars N pains,
    Which they gain,
    As prizes..
    For all their sacrifices..

13. There’s dragm’s N Hopes,
    That fades N lost,
    Ambitions N Goals of a silence soul,
    Which been put on hold,
    So that..
    We can achieve our own..

14. Let’s take a moment,
    To make one..,
    To find solidarity,
    Even in solitary..

15. To share..
    Mutual respects,
    Love N Equality,
    To open our eyes,
    N’ Realise,
    To open our minds,
    Be considerate N kind..

16. It's not too late..
    To act,
    To purge
    The nature of inaction,
    N bind together
    As an agent of change..

17. To stand by their side,
    N fight for them,
    As how they had,
    Still N always will,
    Fight for us..

18. Without free women
    Freedom
    Lost the true essence.

PANNIR SELVAM PRANTHAMAN is a Malaysian death row inmate in Singapore’s Changi Prison. Turned lyricist behind bars, his latest song, ‘Di Sebalik Pintu Besi’ aims to give hope to other death row inmates.

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