What happened the day,

They raped her?

When they chased her down a damp alley,

Or a desolate corridor,

Or an empty street

Or a winding pathway in the woods

And cornered her

And when she saw their faces,

Those known faces

Did the world too look itself in a mirror?

And saw the same faces?

Bijay Upadhyaya

When they touched her

Was there a maelstrom,

Or a tsunami

That lashed beyond shorelines,

And unto the establishments of men

And swept the world away

From under their feet.

When they tore her pajamas,

Did the clouds tear apart too?

And lashed hailstones

At the world below.

What happened?

Tell me what happened,

The day they raped her?

And when she cried and gasped in vain to produce a sound,

A squeak,

A cry,

“No. Don’t. Please”

Any sound,

Because they’d stuffed her mouth with her pajama which was now torn,

Did volcanoes erupt?

And blew up mountains

And rattled everyone with a deafening blast

And carried her voice which otherwise lay stuck and dead,

Beneath the torn pajama.

Somebody please tell me,

Did every pair of ears

And every halls, and corridors and alleys echo with,

“No. Please. Don’t.” that day?

That day when they raped her.

And when blood trickled down her thighs,

And painted red all over,

Did rivers and streams turn red too

And took it to everywhere they flowed?

From big reservoirs

To dams

To household pipes

And to the very water

The world drank?

Will somebody please tell me-

Did the world drink red that day?

That day when they raped her?

And when she tried to remember the warmth of her bed

As they thrashed her on a cold floor

And when she tried to remember the smell of her books

As the air reeked of cum and sweat

And when she tried to remember the taste of her favorite cookie

As salt devastated her taste buds

Did the world too lose itself in

Sore yearning and remembrance of innocent times?

And when they left,

And she promised herself to never tell a soul about what just happened,

Did the world fall silent too?

And carried on with the usual

As if nothing happened.

And five days later

When she jumped from that building

(Because you know, nightmares,

And that voice in her head,

And the panic attacks

And the gloom that seeped in everything she saw and felt)

And died

Did the world die too?

Never to be born again,

Because,

Never to be raped again.

Tell me,

Somebody please tell me,

What happened the day,

They raped her?

pbijay91@gmail.com