To Be A Poetess

by Ardra KS

If you want to become
a poetess
exhibit madness
as much you can.

Talk about Sylvia Plath
explain how to steam
one’s head in an oven,
but not about colossus.
It is to have
time to take
a deep breath,
to listen to your heart
think who you are.

Talk about Virginia Woolf
romanticize how to
drown in a river
but not about
Mrs Dalloway going to
get flowers herself.
It is to have
a room of your own
for you to write.

Talk about Kamala
act as if you are caught in
the sexual fantasies.
Let your sarees
streel behind you.
But not about
her death-infused payasam.
It is to have
freedom to write whatsoever
you want to. 

When you start thinking
sitting in your room
aimlessly
scribbling
metaphors of words,
they will call you
many names
as I told you before.
Stamp you with
Kindheartedness
selfless
compassionate
idol.

By then
you need to
unlearn all the
patriarchal mercies
they taught you.
Be yourself
now begin to
talk about
colossus
rooms of ones own
every selfish payasam
women made.

Bio: Ardra KS is a Journalism scholar and newbie writer from Kerala. She writes poems and short stories in Malayalam and English.

Image: Photograph of payasam.