The Shadow Of Crow Poem by Prathibha Nandakumar

The shadow in the shopping window shows a crow
The nude mannequin is untouched by the crow's beak
She is not tickled. Nor does she make any effort to pull up the sheet
there is nothing to cover. The artist left out the details.
The displayer boy hugs and dresses her up like she can feel
his erection but sorry, no wetness, she is dry right through.
Its important for him to place the price tag prominently.
Its a sale. Discount is the order of the day. If you don’t get a butter fry
piece of meat you only have to pick at

the toes made of the paper mache and
it is at that exact moment that the shadow
of crow disappears and the glass eyed mannequin stares back
with her fixed smile and the crow is not interested any more