"Gill Valentine’s research on adult versus youth spaces found that girls paradoxically identify public spaces, such as city streets, as “private,” because these spaces allow them anonymity away from the prying gaze of parents, teachers, and other caregivers. The home was strangely more like a public space, since girls didn’t feel a sense of privacy or control over their bedrooms and possessions here."
— Leslie Kern, Feminist City
This poem is to the women
I encountered today—
The one I overheard complaining
of her tiring unending familial duties
The other who was distressed by
her abusive unemployed husband
They were safer outside
contrary to the popular beliefs
contrary to the rational beliefs
contrary to the obvious
This poem is to those invisible lines
women tread everyday
between home and the world
leaving no imprint behind.
This poem is to those women too
who claim spaces in public
The ones with their daughters
The ones with their female friends
The ones travelling alone
alongside other such women
The ones who squeeze their bodies
to let the other women sit or pass by
The ones who sighed along my sigh
waiting for the next train
They are widening lenses of womanhood
with their lived experiences
with their daily routines
with their desires
This poem is to those spaces shaped
as women consume them
as a young mother, an old teen,
as a worker, a caregiver, as a female with places to be.
Bithika Halder (she/her) is a writer/dreamer from the suburbs of Kolkata. Her writings look for the patterns and enormity in nuances of everyday lived experiences. In understanding beauty is how she finds purpose. Currently, she is pursuing a Masters in Economics from Jadavapur University. Her works can be found on Instagram @pathbetweenpoetry and Substack newsletter at https://bithika.substack.com/
Cover art: João Candido Portinari, Festival of Saint John