The Awakening by Mitali Chakravarty
poem on the emergence of the Matriarch
Why did the Nile dweller,
Bastet* the beautiful,
metamorphose from a Lioness to a cat
Two thousand years, Bastet turned a cat
that sits on burial urns in pharaohs’ tombs —
revered, worshipped as a rat catcher
no longer a warrior woman
From Amazonians,
women crumbled into corners—
victims violated violenced
silenced
hurt
The feminine reduced to
feline, seductive tramp
using her body map
to attract — bejewelled,
trinketed wallowing in
brands, money, career
Where is the Matriarch?
The Proud Womb of the Human Race?
The Warrior who leads —
Durga, Kali, the Lion headed Bastet?
When will the cat metamorphose back to the Lioness?
*Bastet: An Egyptian goddess who started out in the third millennium BCE as a lion headed goddess and evolved to a goddess with a cat head two thousand years down the line.
About The Author
Nominations for Education and literacy Corner