Indian Review

Literature from India and the world over! Indian Literature Magazine

  • Fiction
  • Nonfiction
  • Poetry
  • About Us
  • Submissions
You are here: Home / Poetry / Saffron and the Seven Sins | Shanaia Kapoor

Saffron and the Seven Sins | Shanaia Kapoor

September 6, 2022

A naked Kali dances atop the mantlepiece.
The smell of paraffin hangs in the air
Like the death of glory on a breeze.
This night would be a cold one.

My sisters warn me about how
Like the red and gold weave,
Of my spurious halo,
He will leave this night a victor,
With my skin under his fingernails,
And Mother’s gold between his teeth.

I am spread like hot butter
Across his laundered sheets of saffron.
We stain them, and he roars like a tiger in November.
He forces me to grovel.
I submit and suffer, suffer and submit
Till I have lotus-shaped bruises
On my knees from all the kneeling.

Ghosts of women line the bedspread–
Burnt sienna, ginger, and henna,
And their harrowed howls like glass
Rip my tongue into ravaged consent
And leave a bloody petticoat
I will wash too many times to remember.
He calls me Saraswati, Durga, then Lakshmi-
A holy trinity of virtues molded
By pandits and the patriarchy.

The temple bells thunder.
I look into his livid eyes- searching.
There is a field and in it is an eight-year-old girl.
She is running. I blink.
It is the back of a bus now.
There is a metal rod, and there is a woman.
She wants to run
But the windows are tinted, and the highway is lonely.
I blink.
He is lighting a cigarette.
I watch as the rolling paper turns
From Constitution to blood and ash.

The garlanded bed becomes a funeral pyre.
I watch the naked Kali burn
As the man chants hallowed scripture,
And citizen registers.
I am reminded of our steps around the fire-
Seven sins too light, seven sins too heavy.
I search amidst the rubble,
For fragments of law,
But find only half pages-
From preambles and prayer books,
Bits of burqa and broken bangles,
A chai wala and his last cigarette.

Authors : Shanaia Kapoor 


Shanaia is a freelance writer, her work has been published in various online publications. She is studying English and Creative Writing at Ashoka University. She has a deep interest in journalism, art, film, theatre, and politics.

Show the author some love:
       

More Awesome Writings to Read:

  1. Golden Giant | Hongri Yuan
  2. Something Hollow Inside…!! | Vibhor
  3. Platinum City | Yuan Hongri
  4. Ghosts in Me | Ira Roy
  5. Inventories from the Wasteland | Rony Nair
  6. Earring | Rebecca Pyle

Categories: Indian English Poems, Poems

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Join the Literature Newletter

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Selections…

In the Name of Love | Bobby Hajjaj

Yes, you can come Home | John S. Shilshi

The Man Who Ate in Hospitals | Meera Rajagopalan

Doctor Aarnay and the case of Numbers | Angandeep Kr Chatterjee

The Story In The Middle: Brooklyn 1996 | Leslie-Ann Murray

Translated Poems

Murder | Subodh Sarkar

Bribe | Subodh Sarkar

Tumi Robe Nirobe | Rabindranath Tagore – A Translation

Nothing new | Irsa Ruçi

Timeless…| Irsa Ruçi

Continuity | Irsa Ruçi

Translated Fiction

Thambi | Jeyamohan

Name: M. Saravanakumar. M.A. English Literature. Works at a private college. A dark, well-built … [Read More...]

The Scape-goat | Indraganti Narasimha Murthy

Scape-Goat | Indraganti Narasimha Murthy

“Hello Mr. Murty …” phoned in Sadanandam, the General Manager of ABC bank. “We have reviewed the … [Read More...]

Gratitude | Dr. Veluri Rama Rao (translation)

Gratitude | Bhagavatula Venkata Radhakrishna

If ever you go to Laxmipuram and ask for the house of Veera Venkata Satyanarayana garu, nobody will … [Read More...]

Copyright @ 2009 · | BanyanPress · | About Us | SiteMap