They burn women in India

They burn women in India.
It doesn't take long ...
the flimsy nylon saris
are perfect
for burning;
it's the dying
which takes a long time,
but then
the dying started
a long time ago anyway.
On the day of the wedding,
the young girl learns
what price
her parents will pay
to be rid of her. She
must pray
that they will
be able to pay enough
so that someone will take her.
For when a woman has no value
in India, and an unmarried
woman is an object of shame,
and so her family is shamed.
A very good reason
to be rid of her of course.
So she becomes
someone else's daughter;
at least, that's what
her parents like to believe.
The truth is often
that once the price is paid,
the family which has been bribed
to take her away,
don't want her either.
So they burn her. That's what
happens to rubbish; to things
of no value.
Only the Goddess weeps
as woman burns in India.

1990