There are few colours on the artiste’s palette that is as striking as red. Red as a colour symbolizes passion, desire and love. But red is also the colour of pain, of scars- seen unseen, of blood flowing out of wounds and of sheer agony.
Read Uncommon poet Prapti Chowdhury’s striking lines which convey in her characteristic no-holds-barred style, how red comes to be more than just a colour.
I was dressed in Red
Do you remember us??
I still remember the date,
11th of May,
When you left me, scathed in pain.
I am strong, I am aggressive,
All these that I thought in my mind were all a tale.
The first time you raised your hand,
I didn’t gather the courage to stand up and walk away,
The first night, you did not come back home,
My pillow heard my soul,
I wish my tears were wiped by you and not by me, alone.
Every time, I spotted the other girls,
I thought it was the last time,
As you stroked my thighs, and we made love like it was the first in a while.
I wish I loved myself, even a pint of how much I loved you.
You said you will build an empire for me, and I was only left with straws,
I thought I will bring the summer back, but I was the one left with unnerving winter,
We promised we will be together forever,
I am only left with ghosts of past, twirling around in the whirlpool of my world.
There are many stories,
Not on pen paper though,
But in my body and my mind and my soul knows it too.
I have scars here, there and everywhere,
Are they a token of love, unduly and truly from you?
I was supposed to dress in red,
So I picked up the ruby red lipstick, the garnet jewellery, the merlot handbag, all matched in its shade.
Yes, I was definitely dressed in red, from head to toe, from spine to soul,
But with the crimson red, that bled from my heart and my veins.
© Prapti Chowdhury
The poem articulates the silent scream of so many women, trapped in destructive relationships that leave them abused and scarred. The domestic abuse that takes the form of physical and emotional violence is damaging and frightening.
Art is one of the most powerful mediums that can be utilised to voice the pain and anger of so many caught in these agonising circumstances. It is evident Prapti feels strongly about these issues to highlight them so graphically in her poetry.
About the writer:
Prapti is a travel photographer and writer, who has recently build her website www.pheritales.com
On paper, she is a Business Consultant, based out of Kolkata.
Prapti is an example of an individual who followed her dreams, when she quit her job and began upcycling products from waste, selling her photographs and paintings as postcards.
In her words,
I want to keep writing, to stand up for causes, to curate happiness (we have scars for pain but no scars for happiness). My writings are not only about pain, it’s also about peace and humour. To me, success is not about the zeroes in my bank account, but the glitter that I see in my parent’s eyes.
You can follow Prapti’s work on
Instagram: @pforprapti
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