Ah, Just Tip Of An Iceberg! Poem by indira babbellapati

Behind a smile lurk many tears.
The frivolous exterior is only a defence
To safeguard one's self...
Each tear gets shed
With a unique sound of silence...
If one tries to share,
There seems to be nothing...
The heaviness of the heart,
The unshed tears alone
Know of the burden...
A constricted feeling around
My heart arrests my breath...

Ah, the curse and burden of
Being born a girl!

Should I regale in my womanhood?

Should I never wish to be born again as one?
Can a woebegone life bring happiness to earth?
How many more years
To go on with pretensions...
The island-cries cannot reach the mainland...
They recede with the backwaters and evaporate...

And what remains is a fistful of salt!

Ah, Poetry!
Only tip of an iceberg.

The alphabet can't measure
The fullness of human experience.