01-12-2021, 04:16 AM
The room sits in vacant silence
as I slap a wet rag over the marble floor
clenching my nostrils
at its acidic fumes.
Occasionally a chime announces
a tickle of wind at its feet,
the corner of the newspaper
dabs the coffee table until
it surrenders itself back to quiet.
The scream is all too familiar,
a roar ripping through his lungs,
the fragile silence in the room,
and every pore of my shivering skin.
It spews a volcano of words,
rattling against doors, windows
and walls
of my heart.
I tug the ends of my sari tighter over my face
as madam descends the stairs in whispered strides,
shoulders hung in resignation,
fresh powder clinging to the bruise on her cheek,
her eyes lift just long enough
to register the swollen half moon
scoring my eye, a remnant
of yesterday's punishment.
She looks away almost instinctively,
before the truth
swells in her eyes.
as I slap a wet rag over the marble floor
clenching my nostrils
at its acidic fumes.
Occasionally a chime announces
a tickle of wind at its feet,
the corner of the newspaper
dabs the coffee table until
it surrenders itself back to quiet.
The scream is all too familiar,
a roar ripping through his lungs,
the fragile silence in the room,
and every pore of my shivering skin.
It spews a volcano of words,
rattling against doors, windows
and walls
of my heart.
I tug the ends of my sari tighter over my face
as madam descends the stairs in whispered strides,
shoulders hung in resignation,
fresh powder clinging to the bruise on her cheek,
her eyes lift just long enough
to register the swollen half moon
scoring my eye, a remnant
of yesterday's punishment.
She looks away almost instinctively,
before the truth
swells in her eyes.