Puckered Lips Poem by Anaswara Divakaran

When I was six and said I wouldn't share my Ice cream with him,
He puckered his strawberry lips.
I bit the choco-bar and drew him into a kiss.
He didn't talk to me for a month,
then he came around.

When he ran into me and my boyfriend, he said hi and puckered his lips.
I kissed that pout away and became single overnight.

When he became my desk-mate  the next day, he drew a line and sat still like a porcelain cat.
I sat on the line and blew a blueberry to his face.
He puckered his lips and stood up to go out, but I pulled him into my arms and kissed the pout away.

He never asked and I never told him, but when I felt menstrual cramps during college tour, he brought me chocolates and hot water.

When I fell on the basketball court, he  took me to the MI room and fell in love with the college nurse.

I didn't get to see those puckered lips anymore and walked away with my head down.

On his wedding day, when the bride didn't come and he stood alone at the altar, I sat among the audience and looked at him. His fingers got into a tangled mess and his lips bloomed into a lavish pout.

As always, I ran over there and kissed that pout away only to make it mine alone.