Ananta Narayani, Poetry 2022 Longlist

CURSE OF SINDOOR


What he be thinking

When he plays with her tiny little hands

Unbothered by her nakedness

The only time when her body doesn't entice.

Is she that heavy to keep

That her weight gets unbearable

To keep her in the womb

So much blood with her being and not.

Does he think

Of her marriage

While caressing her curly brown hair

And clutching her tiny face with his hands?

Does he think of the saffron that will

Constrain her twenty years later

Or the vow which asks her to not laugh

In front of strangers?

Will he finally think of her as the commodity

He wanted to empower

But, failed intrinsically?

For now,

I see the gleam of pride has faded

Replaced by tears.