Countless Questions

I am a girl
My hair is not neat
I wear denims
People say I am like a Tomboy
I wear liberal clothes
People often say that
I am not like a woman
My femininity was questioned

When I hang around with women
When I talk about women’s rights
Their freedom
Being single
People say that I am a lesbian
My sexuality was questioned

I take my own decisions
I stay alone
They suspect
My coping strategies
They insist
Say that I should find a man
My vitality was questioned


After a series of matching
All the planets in the horoscope
I was married
In the middle of the night
On a white robe on the bed
My virginity was questioned

When a cry of a baby
Had not been heard from my womb and home
They said that I am infertile
My fertility was questioned
Oh God can you tell the world
Can I clap with one hand?


Written by Shamila Daluwatte, Women’s Right Attorney and an Activist