Monday, December 23, 2024

stay

"Stay"
I want to tell you
As your arms wrap around me

But our goodbyes are wordless
And so, we are both silent

I wonder,
Quite often,
What if I ask

What would you say?
Would you stay?

Monday, December 2, 2024

Reunion

The death knell sounds from the house opposite ours

A life that has been withering away has finally breathed its last

And someone from the past resurfaces, taking unsure steps

Towards a present we don't know each other in

Arrack warms our bones, fills our laughter with an added something

Joy, I think to myself, happiness, love, friendship

The ease of it takes me by surprise, but then, some things are just easy, aren't they?

And outside, the rain falls and falls, the wind is cold, the skies grey

And beyond, lives come together, part ways, reunite, bid farewell


And you and I? What of us?

Does it even matter?

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Mind tricks

When I am so very tired
And I've stayed up far too long
My mind plays tricks on me
I see things that aren't there

A mouse scurries across a counter
Mosquitoes dart this way and that
Roaches run on the floor
Ants scattered on a wall

Your body warm against mine
Arm pulling me closer to you
Kindness in your words
Affection in your touch

Friday, September 20, 2024

Mine

Our intimacy existed in a vacuum

The early hours of the day

And if you ever asked me if I wished

For things to have been different

Adamantly, I would have said no


And yet, there is one moment

I've never told you or anyone about


You stood at the doorway of your bedroom

Looking straight at me

You stopped, just for a moment

Perhaps switching off the bathroom light

i don't remember


You stood there naked, looking at me

As I lay on your bed

Perhaps I smiled at you then

Everything felt so light, golden

These early hours of the day that were ours

There was a softness to what I saw

Your almirah, ajar

A backpack on a chair, clothes on the floor

And then, you, standing there,

Looking at me

And just for a moment,

I wanted more


God, I wished you were mine

Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Gingie Biscuit

Gingie is too often hangry, meowing complaints about

A lack of food - even though her bowl is so rarely empty

Sometimes, she will bite or scratch in protest

Of how badly she is (supposedly) treated in our house


And yet, when she finally found her way home

After a two-week absence that left our hearts aching

And our feet too, after long searches in the neighbourhood

Her eyes reflected the relief and joy that surely she saw in mine


This cat, ginger and clingy, annoying but affectionate, had come back

Even though she could have found a new home, like she had claimed ours years ago,

Forcing us to open our doors and hearts to her when we had already

Decided we had had enough with the pain that comes with a feline's death


And now she sleeps on my bed, tummy rising up and down

While I work on my laptop right next to her, thinking:

This is the life I want - this love and contentment that comes with

Sharing your house with a (mostly hangry) cat that only has love to give


Word of the day: hangry
feeling irritable or irrationally angry as a result of being hungry


Sunday, August 25, 2024

glass

The glass dish that belonged to my grandmother

exploded when I poured cold batter into it

to make goddamn toad in the hole for dinner

I say exploded, but it made the faintest sound and

suddenly there, on the table, a mess of broken glass

and dripping batter and blistered sausages

I know what happens when you pour cold into hot

I had read about exploding bakewear so many times

and yet, it just never occurred to me tonight


And so, a new batch of batter whisked and poured into a different dish

and placed in the oven

I sat on my bed, trying not to cry

thinking about how unkind life had been lately

taking and taking and taking

giving too, but mostly, taking

and I thought, 'One more bad card dealt

and I will be done. Just done.'

And then I thought about how I'd thought this very same thing

a few weeks ago

but so many bad things had happened since

and here I was, still.


They talked about resilience and perseverance and strength

when I had to put on a brave face and pretend everything was fine

and I would think about how it had

nothing to do with bravery

we got through one bad day after another

not because we wanted to

or still had some fight left in us but because

we had to.


You know, it never occurred to me but when things between us died down

an inevitability given the one-sided-ness of our feelings

I expected the end to be dramatic and explosive and loud

but it wasn't. It was so underwhelming

almost like it didn't even happen

everything seemed fine one minute

and the next,

it was all gone.

Sunday, June 30, 2024

Grief

Death and grief

Always hand in hand

In my mind

There could be no grief without death

No death without grief

But many deathless griefs

And some griefless deaths later

One is free of the other

Deaths, not recent

Grief, so everyday 

Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Kingfishers and bulbuls, parrots and magpies

A kingfisher sits on the fence and I tell Olive

To make a wish as it flies away

Just as my grandmother told me

Years ago, when I was still a kid


The kingfisher doesn't budge

So I tell Olive, who has just turned three (in human years, not dog),

To forget the wish as it surely won't come true

If we stare at the bird until it flies away


A woodpecker, a deep red, pecks on the mango tree

Two parrots sit on an overhead powerline

A flock of seven sisters sing their high-pitched songs

And a bulbul builds a nest in the verandah


And so they go about their lives

Just as I go about mine

Each with our own joys and sorrows

Whether brought on by magpies or not


And I hold on to some childish hope

That a brightly coloured, long-billed bird

Unaware of its wish-granting powers

Could bring me luck as it flies away



Word of the day: bulbul

Monday, June 24, 2024

venn diagrams

Let's call this what it is: grief

I always thought grief came with death

That they were inseparable

But no, there's another kind of grief

This loss of people

Attributed not to death, but to life

You are living your life

And I am living mine

But why must this mean

Circles floating in empty space

Sometimes touching, bouncing off each other

And never overlapping

barbed wire fences

You learn to protect yourself

Telling yourself little lies

That sound convincing enough


You need to protect yourself


I don't date

Because of a fear of commitment

And not being able to prioritise

A relationship at this point of life

(but not because by the age of thirty

i've attracted a whopping zero men)


I don't drink around certain people

Because I will say the wrong thing

And hurt the people

I know I need to let go of but don't seem able to

(and not because drunk me always talks about

a certain man i'm trying not to think about)


I'm choosing people who bring me happiness

Because I've decided to put my interests before

Those of others

Choosing myself, instead of another

(not because the people i thought cared

have proven otherwise - a grief i still cannot process)


I sent you a message after saying I won't

Because surely we all deserve that second chance

To finally do the right thing

And maybe you were just busy before

(and not because I'm still not ready

for this to end)