Silent Shackles

Under the dark clouds of tradition’s gravity,

Where antiquated customs rule,

The lies of souls are silent suffering.

Shackled in chains of compulsory unions.

Innocence stripped, dreams shattered,

Youthful spirits crushed beneath

The burden of expectations, traditions.

Dictating paths they did not choose.

Pressed into unions, not of love.

However, of coercion and control;

When autonomy is but a ghost.

In the reverberations of family edict.

With their voices muffled, cries unattended to.

Since they’re traded as commodities,

Exchanged in the market of tradition,

They are valued according to the old standards.

Consent, no choice, freedom.

Merely the brutal imposition of will,

Being chained to strangers,

Their lives written by another’s hand.

We are against this tyranny,

This dehumanization,

For love does not flourish in captivity,

Neither can happiness be made in chains.

Let us join our voices in chorus,

To break this chain of oppression,

And fight for the right to choose,

Forced marriages condemned to oblivion.