The curtains were closed before her eyes Education was a dream Her future was dead, as she saw it “You ignoramus”, her mind would scream Bitterness laced her every thought Her prospects were so bleak For an Indian girl, at the age of sixteen Must sit alone, humble and meek “School”, was that happy place in her heart A place that she never saw She was silenced when she questioned her freedom She was always begging at their door A month later, she was engaged Her parents said “we must hurry” It is the time, sixteen years She must have a groom to marry In the remote heart of an Indian village You will hear a distant cry Where in the web of custom Our women are known to die
