By Sehrish Malik

on steep stones, she ascends -

in her confident stride

her elegant frame augments

with the wind in her hair

and blisters on her feet

she thinks of all she was told

‘a woman’s place is at home’

she jumps over a puddle

as rain starts to pour

with the might of mountains by her side

and unpredictability of mother nature fuelling her gait

the peaks she would conquer, she’ll decide

she tastes freedom in the veil of rain

she climbs, leaving stains of past behind

‘my place is where I want it to be’...

‘henceforth, I am free’