Forbidden Child

Infants smiling at the vacant corners, eating and sleeping.
Young boys feeling the death of an action figure, crying and being clingy.
Girls draping dupattas on frocks, swirling freely and breaking their mother's lipsticks.

Infants grew into teenagers;
Reading poetry
Raising banners
Smoking weed
Questioning life

And struggling to breathe between expectations.

Boys grew into men;
Emotionally numb
Squeezed in the Subway crowd
Bruising their fingers with dollar bills

Falling in love
Burning photos of past lovers
And left dead by masculinity
Girls grew into women;
Wearing shapewear
Taking acne treatment
Speaking low
Partying loud
Working nightshifts
Justifying their political opinions

And carrying pepper spray in their handbags.
Teenagers imprisoned the innocent infants in cupboards.
Men abandoned boys behind closed bathroom doors that hear silent cries.
Women sacrificed the girls for an hourglass body and a picture perfect life.