The Awakening by Mitali Chakravarty

poem on Matriarchy

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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.

1 Comment
  1. Manisha Thakre says

    Nominations for Education and literacy Corner

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