Fiction & Poetry
हमें नहीं बनना महान
हमें इंसान ही रहने दो।
We spoke about everything and nothing at once, her presence like a balm to an ache I hadn’t realised I carried.
To be a gentle / friendship breaker for S. To be // a candle-lit confetti apology for S.
Khusro to Bullah. Ada to Parveen
यह, वह, वो
He, she, they
Lover or Beloved? Woman or Man?
The bathroom stall becomes a sanctuary, a stage, a confession booth.
You speak in so many tongues to me as you journey languorously down my body.
Just like on a misty morning,
we both
sit
without a shred of adornment
on these ancient stepwells
and the call of the hummingbirds
offer us sensations,
imagination,
and our innocence
I gargle away the itch in the tonsils accompanying this persistent flu.
He said ‘tender’ today/in such a way/I thought/I’d definitely like him saying/dirty things to me
I always thought I’d get married in a white mekhla-sador, the paht soft and warming, so in cool weather please.
Waxing my body for the first time last year to have silky skin like the women on Veet’s box but ended up with rashes instead.
“Be yourself, Sarah. Awkward smiles, empty silences, weird laughter, and all. It’s just a part of being human. Loving someone physically is never not awkward. Even if it’s a monogamous relationship. It’s only the comfort of familiarity that makes you think otherwise.”
In my flesh, I must pass
for straight…
But in the digital world,
I can be me.