Pink Poem by Prathibha Nandakumar

The untimely door bell
brings me hurrying in bare minimum
And he stands there, the god almighty,
all dressed up in expensive silks

It was no wardrobe malfunction
my torn nighty, untidy hair,
does my mouth smell?
did I wash between legs?

Why are we discussing some
godforsaken seminar, goofed up by some
goodfornothing idiot, who should have been kicked out
but given promotion and an award too

The coffee comes to rescue
and the mug is big enough but
allows an unintentional touch and then
everything changed

That carpet, the window sill, the afternoon sun
that blaring music from the next door
cart venders calling out fresh tomatoes

nothing was color pink.
He mouthed an impromptu poem
on my brown lips,
my flat feet and of course
on my thick dark eyelashes.

Translated from Kannada by the poet