THE SHROUD OF STOLEN CHILDHOODS
In the hush before sunrise, the world holds its breath for the girls who wake to futures not their own.
Shadows move across their doorways like unspoken verdicts,
and childhood slips quietly from their hands
before the morning light can find their names.
©️®️ Shannon Scoates
In veiled horizons, their stolen childhoods became a threnody,
Within a penumbra where only whispers dared to breathe.
Amid life’s vicissitudes, their voices became birds imprisoned beneath iron skies,
Where innocence wore the shackles of a bridal guise.
©️®️Somdatta Mitra
Yet somewhere beyond the silence, a dawn remembered their true names,
And hope, though veiled, refused to surrender its flame.
Through fractured destinies, unseen roots gathered strength beneath the dust,
Awaiting the hour when broken wings would remember they were fashioned for the wind.
©️®️ Shannon Scoates
Their perennial resilience and yearning for reclamation remain unheard;
In peregrine phases of life, their inhibitions are like dormant embers beneath an avalanche of ash.
Each sunbeam caresses their unbloomed dreams, yearning to blossom through the illumination of education.
©️®️Somdatta Mitra
Beneath eclipsed heavens, forgotten prayers gathered like unseen constellations,
Each silent tear became a river seeking the freedom of its own tide.
Though sorrow etched its scripture upon the fragile parchment of their days,
The soul remembered a language no chain could ever silence.
©️®️ Shannon Scoates
An amphora of forgotten tears, the shroud concealing their distress;
Girlhood, like a seed, survived beneath the frozen earth.
Knowledge became a constellation stitched across the night of tyranny,
Abrogating the yesteryears’ oppressive customs, as the lexicon of liberty found its voice.
©️®️ Somdatta Mitra
Morning gathered quietly upon their shoulders like a blessing,
As forgotten dreams unfolded petal by patient petal toward the sun.
No longer hidden beneath the weight of inherited silence,
They walked into tomorrow carrying the light that had always lived within.
©️®️ Shannon Scoates
In resurgence, a renaissance of dignity became a mountain no tyranny could erode,
Like phoenixes carrying the eternal memory of fire.
As a testament to humanity, every heart awaited its kairos,
Where the grammar of equality blossomed into the scripture of emancipation.
In effulgence and magnanimity, they became the anthem of unconquered hearts.
©️®️ Somdatta Mitra
©️®️Shannon Scoates
Shannon Scoates is a Canadian poet and intuitive writer whose work is rooted in nature, mysticism, and channeled guidance. Influenced by childhood storytellers like Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, as well as poets such as Emily Dickinson, Maya Angelou, E.E. Cummings, W.B. Yeats, Robert Frost, and RR Token author Terry Brooks, she began writing at age ten as a way to express emotion and truth. Shannon is also an energy healer trained in Reiki, colour, sound, and vibrational therapy, and she is passionate about helping women find their voice through writing and spiritual connection. A devoted advocate for children’s literature and animal rights, she carries forward the encouragement of her Grampa and Grama, whose spirit continues to guide her creative path. Her first book is currently in development.