Street Woman | Nidhi Joshi

I find her at the red light every morning,
A sparrow’s nest of light brown hair,
A frayed nightgown on her frail frame,
With an aluminium begging bowl,
She approaches me,
And blesses me with many sons,

I raise eyebrows, look the other side,
Turn up the music to drown her voice
She doesn’t wait and walks away
I steal a glance at the rear mirror,
To see her fading off in the long queue of cars

Some odd day,
I drop a coin in her bowl,
Clang it goes and swirls around
She bows her head
Smiles in gratitude,
For the petty charity,
Raises her hands to bless me,
Again with many sons,

The other day,
I found her sitting on the kerb,
Twisting her hair into two shabby braids,
Tying the ends with shoe strings,
She stared at me with blank eyes,
I wonder if she knew how poor I was
With all my wealth

I dare not to ask,
Woman, what is your name?
Fearing she would come to exist in my world,
And prick my soul everyday

Nidhi Joshi writes on Indian Review.