Beneath her veil lay eyes filled with fear
Of man and his ways, of evil bred within good
Of what lay ahead of her, what fate had dealt her
A world that turned against her, blamed her, maimed her
Condemned to a death so bloody, an end so violent
A memory tainted by unjustified justifications
Innocent? Guilty? A victim of societal condemnation
Actions based on so-called religious obligation
Her body, tears, blood, their means to purification
To their honour, a restoration
Of her being, a termination, elimination
Perhaps she was born into the wrong nation

Beneath her veil lay eyes filled with questions
They leave their homes, closing their doors to their own sins
Their robes kissing the earth, their voices rising in mock anger
Stony looks matching the hearts in their chests, the rocks in their hands
Personifications of the ironies of this world
Dishonorable soldiers of God’s army, fighting for honor
Casting stones with hands tainted by their own misdeeds
Egos inflated with the thoughts of doing right by God’s law
Judges of the ‘adulteress’, defenders of their own adultery
Drowning out the voice of reason, her pleas, her desperate calls for mercy
Chanting loudly from the holy books, words they refuse to honor
Teachings they refuse to follow, commandments they refuse to submit to
Picking what favours them and discarding all else that follows
She questions the sincerity of man in his quest to please our Lord.

Beneath her veil lay eyes filled with indifference
To everything happening around her, deep within her being
Her effort to numb out the pain as the first rock strikes
Thrown from hands that had once held her close and professed love
From fingers that had interlaced with hers on those moon-lit nights
Stones cast by her friends, neighbours, her family
Blind to the innocence in her eyes, the purity in her heart
An outcast within her caste, disowned by her own
Her ‘partner’ set free, supposedly innocent of the act
Defying all logic… takes two to commit yet one was enough to submit
To the will of man, the unjust cause of the Homo sapiens

Beneath her veil lay eyes filled with pity
‘Forgive them Father, for they know not what they are doing’
Stoning down an innocent soul, ending a life they did not create
With every drop of her blood, their shouts of victory grew louder
All compassion lost, all empathy thrown away
Sucking out her life, reaffirming their holiness
Fighting and winning a battle that belonged to God
Ignorant of the facts, the sad reality of their existence
That with every rock cast, every jab felt and every breath lost
An immaculate being was abused, the earth defiled.

Beneath her veil lay eyes absent a soul
She slumped, her body a mass of bruises and scars
She met her death standing, buried to her waist
Her last breath in the whites she had put on herself
Whites of her baptism and wedding turned to a bloodied shroud
No ritual bath, no prayer, not a chance to be mourned
Cheated of her life, denied a chance at justice, a sacrifice
For men who sought reassurance in the sins of others
Yet their honor shall never be worth a drop of her innocent blood
And their sins shall forever remain theirs to bear.