Columnists
Mehtab Kaur, Maharani ... at Shalimar
A Poem by MICHELE GIBSON
For International Women's Week at sikhchic.com ...
A great wife is still an offering
not so different from the dancing ones
I bear his children, I do not sing
and manage repose for lesser sums
*
I was frightened by his face
This man, a husband, disfigured thus
but stood obediently in place
and cursed my fate as most unjust
*
I came to know the Maharaja
a warrior, and a reverent soul
the battles for his Kingdom
would exact a princely toll
*
At a distance, through his laughter
cajoling with his company
or from the wings, his solemn banter,
grand pronouncements and decrees
*
I grew to love him, from a distance
and gained regard only if I dared
carried his children, voiced resistance
to the women that he shared
*
but none were quite so swift to sever
as Kaulan, lotus on the wind
her voice as soft as summer petals
as haunting as elemental sin
*
I saw his eye, the message sent,
her's cast freely like the dew
I am wife and Regent
but my heart was slashed in two
*
50 rupees for every height,
she was a bargain by any means
a voice to melt the court from sight
but every inch a chasm to me
*
I am the Queen, First wife to the King
I bear all that my role confides
but every time he hears her sing
the heart of a woman dies
March 13, 2010
Conversation about this article
1: Harsimran Kaur (Agra, India), March 13, 2010, 10:44 AM.
Michele, you are quickly taking on the role of the Great Chronicler of Sikh History, with your exquisite renditions of historical events and personalities. Your use of poetry to do it makes it all the more special ... unique and powerful. We are indebted to you for creating these gems!
2: Jeet Singh (Albany, New York, U.S.A.), March 15, 2010, 4:29 PM.
Found your poem most interesting. Enjoyed it, actually. Thought you took a tough and unsavoury subject and turned it into a beautiful tale, woven around historical facts. Thanks.