One fine morning
I will open my eyes.
Every bone will yell (Let’s get out!).
My feet will feel up to the slush
and the mirror will not go hushed
as if it doesn’t know how to break
the bad news.
The newspaper will have
nothing about dead babies
nor photographs of sexy Kapoors.
I will take a bath before noon.
The street will rapid blink
at my doughy belly, its ten thousand
eyes will wink.
Cap-sleeved innocence of lazy arms
will shout (Life is good! Life is sweetly plump!).
I will bring out my neat ironed faith
in a day when skies are blue
and all yesterdays
that went wrong come back
to apologize.
When life is a warbling lark,
when life waits like old lace,
and too many stars have fallen out
of the night, when I want to shout
(I’m here, world!
And I’m not afraid!)
for that day
I save this blouse.
~ Annie Zaidi
Annie Zaidi writes poetry, essays, fiction of varying lengths, and scripts for the stage and the screen. She is the author of ‘Love Stories # 1 to 14’, ‘Known Turf: Bantering with Bandits and Other True Tales’, a collection of essays that was shortlisted for the Vodafone Crossword Book Award. She co-authored ‘The Bad Boy’s Guide to the Good Indian Girl’ with Smriti Ravindra, and her poetry has appeared in numerous magazines.
