Everyone rally around
The expectant mother
When it is the delivery
Of the first baby.
Congratulations and smiles
Gifts and sweets
Follow the baby
The child and mother
Pampered.
Because it’s a boy.
It’s a baby girl
Still, the parents grin
Showing they don’t care
If it’s a son or daughter
But with the secret hope
That there is always
A second chance.
And when it is a girl
Even the second time
There is sorrow
Frustration follows.
Wanting a boy
A girl is born.
Unwanted, unloved.
The mother and daughter
Uncared, shunned
By family, society
The father detached
His heredity doomed
Only, only if I had a son
He thinks
My problems solved
My prestige restored.
Can I take a chance?
For a third child
The father thinks
Maybe, luck will favour
And a son be born.
After all, son
Is a son for ever
And a daughter,
A load to unburden.
( The writer’s email: radhika_writer@yahoo.co.in )
