Haunches numb, she sat with nose to knee.
The cheap light ran trills of sitartinkles
Along the thousand and one gold links from her nose,
Powdered and gently moist, to her ear.
She sat with nose to knee,
Was fed sweets by congratulating unseen hands.
He fed her too, a crumbling sandesh,
And missed at first, smudged her lipstick
(They laughed at this intimacy
Her mother all paan-stained smiled.)
They come like jeweled flies
Bedecked and whining glitter
In hair taut from coconut oil
Or crimped curled twisted furled
Hair they can sit on or bobbing at the chin.
She sat all-seeing eyes lowered kajol-heavy
Weighed down by his past her shame
(Her shame crawled among the heaped tables
Sweating fat from the cows they ate
Draining oily meat, licking turtle lips
Her shame jangled bangles among the guests.)
My god Alisha affectionate
Jealous Wendy white whore
(What she will not do for him
All the dirty dirty acrobatics she will
Green eyes like a wolfwoman
Yellow like a banana)
Sangeeta like a switchblade
What what looking for new customer
These shameless look at him
Alisha with big big eyes so starry brown
What are they tears of loss, happiness
Does she remember what frolicking
She comes in ruby and green
Their eyes like date-molasses
Runny like healthy diarrhea
And he my god his past my shame
Doesn't know where to look
What did he promise them
She does not need promises but gave and took his past my shame
And looks at him with softness
Come here I show you softness
In raw papaya thighs and ripe mango mound
You come like flies to half-eaten meat
And think me the weighty wasp
They come wrapped in winged saris
Lightly veined the curls lick hued cloth like oiled paper
They come painted dolls and dragon mothers
Hurried, saried like jeweled flies
In hordes his whores to my wedding.
