In Shackles

Born a girl I gradually realized 

My life was to be bound in shackles

Shackles, laden with pressure

To look a certain way

To have a particular mannerism

To weigh a particular measure

All deemed fit for a girl

To lure her prospective suitors

As reckoned by age old traditions

Which doesn’t let me break free

In misery and despair, I console my heart

And wait to shatter the shackles and set myself free.