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| Mary Sue Barnett ARCWP |
Jyoti Singh was a 23 year old college student who was gang raped and severely injured on a bus in Delhi, India in December 2012. The barbaric attack gave rise to mass protests across the country. Jyoti was able to give details of the attack to her parents and to the police while in the hospital. She died of her injuries thirteen days later. She has been referred to as “India’s Daughter,” which also is the title of a BBC Documentary about her life and the misogynistic violence that took her life.
This feminist, mystical poem arises from a deep, redemptive impulse, from the grace of inter being, to offer a breath of healing and solidarity. A close friend inspired these words.
Jyoti Singh: Birthright of a Butterfly
Universal Declaration
of Human Rights
is
your
Birthright,
Jyoti
yet
you
lay
battered
by men
even
a butterfly has
tall grass
for shelter.
CEDAW is
your
Safety,
Jyoti
yet
you
endure
unspeakable attacks
even
a butterfly has
a leaf
for rest.
Beijing Platform
for Action
is
your
Sisterhood,
Jyoti
yet
your
pain
is too much
for one bite
of food
even
a butterfly is
free
to enjoy
the nectar.
Mother Earth
is
your
Soil
for living,
Jyoti
yet
you
tell
your
story
from
your
deathbed
even
some butterflies
hibernate
in trees
for a winter.
Sister Moon
and Brother Sun
are
your
Horizon,
Jyoti,
yet
your
female body
is desecrated
even
a butterfly’s wings
provide camouflage.
Enormous is
your
courage
to survive
to speak
the truths
in
your
dying
so others
could care.
Like Indian
Swallowtails
flying high
in alpine meadows
and forest canopy
but soon
oh too soon
you
are lifted
above
your
sisters in
the streets.
Your
unbearable trust
releases
you
in one
last breath
to be heard
to heal
to be free.
Filled with
uncertainty
is a butterfly’s
first flight
a universal
breeze carries
you
to be
present
in one
eternal moment
with Love
Who created
you
waiting with
nectar for
your
being,
Jyoti.
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