Dirty Linens

My mother told me not to wash my dirty linens in public. 

She taught me how to use concealer 

When I got slapped for speaking out of turn

So I could hide my bruises from my peers in school. 

She told me the skin benefits of hot milk 

When it was poured on my head

For reacting to uncouth words with my eyes. 

She taught me how to drive a car

So I was able to find my father

Inebriated and unconscious, on a pavement in Noida at night. 

She pinched me from under the dinner table 

So she could protect me from getting my phone confiscated by brother

when I didn't prepare my lies well.

My mother told me not to argue or be 'political' on Facebook 

because "you can't call a spade a spade

and nobody entertains a woman with a big gab."

My mother told me not to wash my dirty linens in public, 

But I don’t know how to tell my mother 

All my clothes have torn.