THE FOLLOWING POEM WAS SELECTED IN WINGWORD POETRY PRIZE 2023 LONGLIST.
She wrote her name,
With shaking hands,
And blushed,and its not first time.
Her thumb prints,
Had just been replaced,
Her letters are quite spaced.
She receives her wage with a smile,
That the dinner is guaranteed,
Some fishes could she buy,
For two sons,who are fatherless.
Her house is roofed with rusty tin,
Would only let some raindrops in,
And in corner lies a biscuit can,
Where she saves some,beside a broken fan.
Her dreams are not so big,
But daily would she crush stones and dig,
Not as good as crusher though,
Yet enough for her two sons to grow.
And one crooked night,
Her sons are nowhere to be found,
Not spared was a broken fan,
And also the biscuit can.
Distant across she sees the light,
Disappearing from her sight,
And her hope and her sons,
And Kaali slowly cried.