Where Is My Valentine? Poem by Veeraiyah Subbulakshmi

He has arrived, holding the laptop,
Gone are those yellow bags,
All of them have gathered around the dude,
My uncles, aunties and grand mum and daddy,
He is munching the betel nut,
Not to smell out the bad breath,
I have been hiding behind the door,
Looking at my father’s facial expressions,
He squints his eyes and said no,
He shakes his head and said no,
He keeps his hands behind the head and said no,
He changes his seat and said no,
I am curious to look at those photos,
My mother is beside and privileged a lot,
Appa stands up and asks him to look for the better,
The marriage broker leaves after collecting his dues,
My father is too sad and has no guts to look at my face,
My mother comes to me and holds my shoulders,
The time hasn’t come, darling, we can wait,
Your groom may have had the duties to finish,
Your groom may have had the exams to pass,
And insists me to pray to Lord Siva for a good man,
I am not bothered to get married and go off soon,
Seeing my parents suffer, I pray to the Gods of heaven,
To have pity on these old souls, mocked by our relations.