Sakura Talks Back

This poem is a critique of Masashi Kishimoto's famous manga Naruto where he showed Sakura, the deuteragonist, as a weak and feeble character though the character got it's due in the later part of the series. Even though she was shown as a strong woman in later representations it doesn't give any fan or any person to misrepresent women as weak, feeble or painting them with stereotypes. So here's a critique of all that male chauvinism that went in the creation of the famous Naruto. This is also a response to Nitoo Das's poem on Geeta Dutt.



Like the cherry pink blossoms

You thought I was fragile

So that you could bend me

Twist me, crush me, destroy me

Kishimoto, I’m not the fragile one.

I’m more than my name

I destroy, kill, make and carve

I’m the destroyer and the creator

I store life within me, I heal

Kishimoto, I’m not a useless woman

When villages were torn by violence

When wars disrupted lives of the people

When darkness prevailed and hope faded

I poured light with my life

Kishimoto, I’m Tsunade’s shadow

I’m not a gentle breeze

I’m not a timid flower

I’m not a spring blossom

I’m not a pure woman

Kishimoto, I’m a tornado

When your main man was falling

When “strong men” were dying

When children were maimed

When citizens were being killed

Kishimoto, I protected them

You painted me dumb

You painted my lesser than

Your useless main man

Your vile, twisted misconceptions

Kishimoto, is like a castle of glass

You underestimated my strength

You mocked my inabilities

Painted me with deception

Glossed me with stereotypes

Kishimoto, I’ll fight back

I'm not the white flower

I'm not the gentle Sakura

I'm not a humble tree

A boisterous cactus I've always been

Kishimoto, I'll prick you 

But one thing’s for sure

I’ll listen no more

To the slurs and abuses

I’ll make myself known

Kishimoto, your glass castle is done for