A confession of Acceptance

Babra Shafiqi

The inside of my mouth resembles my Baba
I carry him on my tongue
in the reckless way I spit
I must kiss like him too
But I don’t know how he kisses
I know how he swears
or how he curses
And how he licks his lips
when the foam of anger leaves his mouth
Like ocean hitting the silver rocks
A white poisoned sheet
A raging Poseidon
punishing the waves.
My laminated teeth shine ever so brightly
Unlike his yellow pebbles
Granite Mountains
Harsh caves, speckled homeless walls.
Where now I live, inside them
with him, us holding each other,
Tightly like a clenched jaw.

 

This work has been published in Beetle Magazine's July 2020 Issue

Illustration by Dhanashree Pimputkar


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