bhasma
painted with ashes
white and gray fills the cracks of her lips
her blotched pale face is powdered
mutable eyes
flecked with aqua
pierce the light whiteness
ash falls
dusting her peachy pink nipples
a hot tear follows
carrying the ash in a cloudy drop to her thigh
she writes watery spirals on her leg
disappears into the steam of the shower
a clump slides through her hair
landing by her toes
was it a part of his broken collarbone?
he used to delight in her squished up face
when he held her hand to the poorly mended break
--"bhasma" was originally published in Sugar Mule
http://www.sugarmule.com/32frame.htm
by mk cobb on Wednesday, July 22, 2009
