My Crowned
Childhood
Tilt the gas cylinder horizontally.
Roll it on the floor.
Rotis* cooked.
Dairy Milk
devoured.
Embellish the rips
of my backpack with
Gryffindor pins and stickers.
A wand key-ring
rewarded.
A bucket of lukewarm water.
Ration for washing
body and long hair.
Shampoo doesn’t burn
eyes.
Sip lime-water from the
reused coke bottle.
Pretend you’re sipping cola.
No glasses to clean.
No fingerprints, turmeric
stains,
or pen markings
on the book borrowed.
Another one promised.
Handle the bright red track-point
on dad’s laptop as delicately
as glass crockery when serving guests.
His sandal stays on
the floor.
My favourite—
pick one dress from cousin’s
wardrobe. Twirl like a
princess.
Lock it in my
cupboard.
My childhood
crowned with games.
References:
Rotis*:
A round flatbread prepared in India.
A Computer Science Engineer with a Masters in Management from Imperial College London, Mehak ran a couple of profitable start-ups, before committing herself to becoming a full-time writer. Shortlisted for the Sakhi Awards and the Cinnamon press literature awards, her writings have appeared or are forthcoming in The American Journal of Poetry, One Art, The Madras Courier(India), The Woman Who Roar, Muse(India), The Alipore Post(India) and elsewhere. She is working on her first poetry collection. Follow her on IG @poetic_quill.
This is a really wonderful piece.
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