Shalini Rao

…and singe the night air with embers
Of my ego plastered with Paris
Past lingers on, the perfume stays in bed
All day to wake lazy toes.
...

What's a guy like you doing with a man like that, you ask

You mind, I love him, she says, I really do.
...

Funny how the grime suits temples.
The Gods seem aloof otherwise.

While I pray,

A lady jostles through mass hysteria
...

Whipped out of pockets
(At client meetings and networking seminars)
Shoved under table cloths
Left behind in loos
...

Whenever grandpa farted
We were taught not to giggle
Or wrinkle our noses
Just sit still for 30 seconds or so
...

I don't come in bed, she announces.
Let's try the pool, you suggest.
You know, she says ignoring you completely,
Here I am on the bus reading Zen and it hits me
...

Autumn, yellow dyed
Crisp and crackling under feet
Leaves dancing out of reach
Trees all bare posing for a centrespread
...

...

Marriages are made at 247 Usmaan Road
Under the chants of a bald man with no teeth
They say he chants Vedic mantras
For the happiness of the couple.
...

She taught philosophy in her sexiest voice
And uttered four-letter words like endearments
When someone told her it was true,
B-a-l-l-s, she husked, that's five.
...