Grandpa | Torsa Ghosal

you hunch and throw
your voice from stage
your left thumb plucks
tinted sweat off
your nose
you ask did I make a good villain

mummy says you’re too cruel

morning breaks       into puddles
sun is the object of your prayer
scrub eats the sacred thread you wear
you only have crackers for breakfast

mummy cannot do math
your shoulder blades
                                     stiffen
grandma’s china die of broken heart
your starched sleeves frown
you leave the grocery list
behind  

winter evenings in Lucknow are raw
                                                           silk grandma steals
an almond from the coat
you left at home on your way to the playhouse
and never came

just so you know:
daddy, who you never met, got the ring with your initials
your daughter never got better at math
I came nine years later
                                       I have your forehead

you are too cruel

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Torsa Ghosal is a PhD candidate in the department of English at Ohio State University. She grew up in India where she was awarded the National Balshree Honor by the President of the country in 2005 for excellence in creative writing. Her poem was adjudged a winner for Inspired by My Museum Writing Competition 2014, organized by the British Council and Sampad (UK). Her poems and short fiction have been published or are forthcoming in Himal Southasian, Unsplendid, Muse India, and Truth About the Fact.