I can tell that
my father is not a feminist
in the way, he calls
me and my sister
his rose and his dahlia
he is watering flowers
and not raising daughters
I can tell that
my father is not a feminist
in the way, he walks beside me
and in the way, he tells me
how to walk beside him
delicately softy gracefully
floating in the air like
a fairy
I can tell that
my father is not a feminist
in the way, he asks me to speak up
when he talks over me
my father has educated us
in science, in literature, in art
but he cannot teach us what
he does not understand himself
my father tells me
to go conquer the cosmos
to unfurl my wings and soar into the sky
but to come back home
before nine
my father loves us
but fears for us more
I can tell that
my father is not a feminist
when he says that
women have to hustle
harder longer
because we are built slower
he says it isn't our fault
it's our chromosomes
how our genes are coded
we are molded to be smaller
weaker with rounder shoulders
that cannot bear the weight
of this cruel unfair world
we have to wear armors
and be on guard with spears
this is a battlefield, darling
if you are too fragile to be the offense
at least be on your defense
why do I have to wage a war
to lay claim over my own womb?
I can tell that
my father is not a feminist
in the way, he doesn't want to
change the world for us
but wants us to change
for the world
my father is a good son
a good husband
a good father
but above all, he is a good man
my father is a man
a man
so when my father told me
that he would finance my
higher education once
I get married to a suitable man
I agreed to marry
as long as I could wear
a plain white sari
on the wedding day
it would be as though
I'd be attending a funeral
my funeral.