Poem: Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG)

By Sanghamitra Bhumana

Serene yet fervent,
Defiant yet persuasive.
You spoke for equality,
Wore an unrelenting heart for justice.

Your tireless work opened doors
Engraved with ‘you don’t belong’ roars.
You gave women equal dignity before the law,
You shined light on its every flaw,
Breaking them free from every ‘stay in your place’ claw.

The impact of your work so profound!
Unequivocally in your arguments, you expound,
Take heed “place women on a pedestal rather than a cage”;
And there you set the stage!

To a captive audience of justices, all white men,
You lay bare the blatant inequalities,
A reality many shun as rarities.

Every case you fought in the apex court,
You chose to accentuate amidst your cohort,
These blatant yet obscure inequalities.

You carved out a strategy,
To show the gravity
Of gender discrimination
Pervasive in a great nation.
How it affects all genders when one is discriminated
Oh, its human capacity abated!!
After all, we are all human; interdependent,
Yet independent.

You voiced it all with a calm demeanour,
In a composed tone without much clamour.
A virtue instilled in you by your mother,
Oh, what a woman she raised!
Who knows when her tongue to untether,
And spill words so resolved.

You chose a man who cared that you had a brain,
His love toward you he did make rain;
Sharing your family’s chores
A shining example to scores.

You made friends across the aisle,
Your unique style.
With those whose ideologies didn’t like your sound,
Yet you found common ground.

Dissent you did
For justice, you did.
Dissent you did
For equality, you did.

You are a force to reckon with!
Your life will forever bequeath
a shining light of sheer might.

Bio:
Sanghamitra Bhumana, born and brought up in India, has lived and worked as a Telecommunications Engineer in the US for 11 years before moving back to India with her husband and kids to live close to their parents and to raise their kids closer to their cultural roots. She is currently pursuing her passion in the field of education in Hyderabad. She is a poet, nature, and space enthusiast.

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