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Poems On Gender And Identity

Through 100 pages of 'Poetry as Evidence', Outlook presents a selection of poems and verses that have moved us, and we feel these serve as evidence of our bleak times and lives. The poems below are the 74th and 75th from the series.

Outlook Web Desk

Updated on: 15 January 2024 7:40 am

Kashmiris residing in Delhi take out a silent protest against the revocation of Kashmir’s special Constitutional status in New Delhi in 2019.

“But Who Will Take Care of You in Your Old Age?”

But Who Will Take Care of You in Your Old Age?
is the only question my parents ask
that actually stumps me.
It’s the only one
I have stopped finding
reasonable-sounding answers to.
I lay down my arms with
“I do not know.”
Under my breath,
I still refuse to treat love
as a retirement policy.
But maybe it is just that.
Why should I stud it with moons and stars.
Why should I bejewel a simple need.
Maybe all of life does come to
“but who will take you to the hospital
when you will fall down.”
I foreclose the thought
under a violet moon.

Akhil Katyal, Delhi

(Akhil Katyal’s?fourth book of poems?A Biography of After?is forthcoming from HarperCollins India (2024). He is the author of?Like Blood on the Bitten Tongue: Delhi Poems?(Westland), the translator of Ravish Kumar’s?A City Happens in Love?(Speaking Tiger), and the co-editor of?The World that Belongs to Us: An Anthology of Queer Poetry from South Asia?(HarperCollins India). Katyal teaches Creative Writing at Ambedkar University, Delhi.)

Neither Boy nor Girl

Neither a boy
Nor a girl
You are my precious honey drop
Seeing my dashed hope
Time gifted you my treasure

Separate good from evil,
Grow beyond the checkered boxes
Fill yourself as much with yourself
And be the reflection of truth

Not a son
Not a daughter
You are my dear rainbow
Holding you close to my bosom
Let me kiss your forehead
Hundred kisses of gratification

Not to fail
But to nourish all your dreams
Let others find solace in you
With the strength you symbolize

Not a curse
Not a sin
You are my lucky star
My first star

Vijayarajamallika, Kerala

(Vijayarajamallika?is a transgender poet who is deeply committed to exploring and representing the experiences of marginalised queer communities through her work. As an intersex writer, her poetry is heavily influenced by her identity and the heteronormative social system that shapes her experiences navigating the world. Her poetry has been recognised with several awards, published in various literary journals and anthologies, and included in the undergraduate and postgraduate syllabuses. According to the author, the poem ‘Neither Boy Nor Girl’ is the first lullaby for intersex babies, the first of its kind in the world.)