March 1, 2005
Dalit
by Theresa Wolfwood
Dalit
I wondered
if I touch the skin
gentle
on your perfect cheek
that the pain
born of history
would explode
from your bones.
When our hands
clasped
I felt the hard geography
of your resistance.
In the open sky
of your radiant face
I saw dance
I heard song
you and your sisters
together resolute
on the path towards
freedom's golden horizon.
*Dalits: we used to call them Untouchables.
photo taken at World Social Forum in Mumbai, India, by Theresa Wolfwood, 2004