"Consent" - Poem by Dishi Maheshwari

She is not an object,

But why is she treated like one?

It's again the same story.

But it was a sunny bright day,

She thought she'd get away today

Without fretting where to hide.

But she was wrong,

Laid there and cried.

too weak to even speak.

They say it's her fault after all.

She is exhausted, she can barely crawl.

she held her breath,

Coveting to fade it away.

Emotionally and physically hurt,

She's treated like dirt.

Mentally and sexually abused,

she's always being used.

She's always under attack,

she wonders, things can happen back.

tell her it is not meant to be this way,

It isn't a day that'll just pass away.

And she is questioned again.

"What was she wearing?"

"I bet, she was the one asking?"

Yes, she is asking for it.

She's asking to safeguard her body when she wants to.

To give her body the consent when she chooses to.

To not satisfy anybody's wants without her choice,

Cause her body is neither an object nor your entitlement.

No doesn't mean

try to change her mind,

Or rephrase the sentence

Or tell her "come on"

But she's sorry that her silence failed to tell you

that her body is not there for you.

These words that I say,

Won't ever be strong enough to convey.

How important is consent

And what it really meant.

- Dishi Maheshwari (India)