Tea and Prose
Day 25 Inktober : Splat
One day a girl named Mrin was walking down the road when suddenly she heard the clouds crack and roar. She quickly whipped out her umbrella and was surprised to hear a loud splat instead of the pitter-patter of rain drops. But what shocked her beyond belief was when she looked down and saw a puddle of colorful muck stuck to her feet. “What sorcery is this!” she exclaimed. “Did the clouds get high on buckets of paints or am I just dreaming again?”
The monochromatic room
Speaks in a whispered volume
Through the window by the bed
I look outside at the pouring rain
Holding a cigarette.
Hazy smoke fills the air
Blurring the 70-square foot room
I close my eyes
Listen to the sound of the pouring rain
Holding a cigarette.
In some kind of a dreamy state
Feeling some kind of euphoric sense of freedom
Smoke rises from the chimneys of old roofs
The world has turned grey
From the streets and the skies to the walls of the room
Like the falling ash
Like this metallic chair
On which I sit in my white underwear
Taking in a deep drag
Feeling the sharpness of the smoke
Buzzing through my mind
Through my bare naked feet
It feels right
I wonder why?
Why does everything bad have to feel so good?
The heaviness
The carelessness
The messy sheets
The art on the walls –
The only thing worth holding on to.
This greyness in the air
Is like a song that plays
In some corner of the mind
This greyness in the air
Brings out the freak inside
Looking up at the sky
With one foot on the chair
and one hand resting on the knee
Holding on to this burning desire
A grey wisp of smoke curls in the air.
Holding on to all that’s present in this
Dull artistic greyness
Writing away all that I want
All that I feel,
Old memories come back to life.
Where has that girl gone?
Disappeared like thin air
Into the mist
Reckless and bold,
Sassy and cold.
Hidden somewhere deep inside
Safe in a grey corner of my mind.
Dark untamed roads for her pink pedicured feet.
Day 7 Inktober – “Fancy”
She loved watching the birds in her garden but every time she tried to get close to them, they would fly away.
Every day, she would attempt by going a step closer. Alas, they would fly away.
Some days, she would make sure the birds watched her filling their empty water bowls and bird feeder, yet they never came close.
So, she turned herself into a fancy garden and was never alone again.
Day 2 Inktober – “Wisp”
In her dreams, her burning desires come alive.
She stepped out again
when it started to rain.
She held an umbrella in her hand
& wore no slippers on her feet.
She liked to splatter,
the water on the streets
with her bare feet.
So every time it rained
People who saw her exclaimed,
“There goes the Umbrella Girl again!”
A little girl and her kitten on a brick windowsill enjoying the midnight breeze on a moon lit night-a memory to keep.
The smell of fresh mint lifts up her spirits.
Every morning, Anima enters the gates of our home at 5.30 AM and goes straight to the garden to collect fresh herbs.
Anima is a cook in our house and I have known her since I was a child. Every day she goes to the kitchen with a smile holding a bunch of fresh mint in her hands like they are a bouquet of flowers.
Every morning, we drink mint juice with breakfast and there is always extra stocked up in the fridge. I wonder why Anima is so obsessed with mint, even Appa and Amma never tell her anything.
Sometimes I have seen her from the terrace watering the mint garden and mumbling silent prayers. I felt she was going crazy.
I even went up to her one day and asked,
“Anima, why do you like mint so much?”
She gently brushed her hand through my hair and smiled at me.
I never got an answer.
I was upset, I couldn’t take it anymore so I decided to stop all the madness. At night, I secretly went into the garden and destroyed all the mint plants.
Next morning, I wake up and see Anima sobbing by the wreckage in the garden. Appa and Amma look like they are in a state of shock. They just stood by her side, motionless.
Next second, I see them come running towards my room.
I look at them in confusion and ask,
“What’s wrong? Why do you all look so awful? It was only mint!”
They stand in front of me wide-eyed without saying a word.
I could feel myself turning pale.
Amma bursts out crying, “Lips.. her lips are turning purple. Call the doctor!”
I feel the room spinning in circles and my legs feel like jelly. While being carried in Appa’s arms I see a faint light, a disheveled garden and Anima standing solemnly by the door holding onto rotten mint leaves.
Day 80
Not so soon called out the moon,
If only I could see you a while longer.
Alas, she turned her back again
And walked into the room.
Every day the scene would repeat
The moon would wait patiently
To get a glimpse of her deep dreamy eyes
Oblivious, the girl stood in the darkness of the night
Looking vacantly at the moon
With longing and hopeless desires.
Day 60
I’m wickedly passionate
Thoroughly delightful.
My mysterious charm
Will truly enchant you.
A fragrant passing breeze
Or a joyful ecstasy
Just one gaze will totally bewilder you.
Into Words 