06 December 2024

Carrot Halwa

I hope you say my name
In your sleep. 
I hope your kid asks you 
Repeatedly about the one 
You seek in your dreams.

I hope you've fumbled 
Everytime they all wanted an 
Explanation and I hope
You had decided to never 
Talk about the past.

But not today.
Not on on this gloom ladden 
Sunday of late December.

But how are you gonna 
Say it aloud? 
How are you gonna scream 
An ex lover's name in
Everyone's presence?

So you decide to prepare 
Halwa with carrots from 
Backwaters of Kerala,
The one you had prepared me
When we had first met.

Everyone enjoys it to 
The last bit. 
Your in-laws say it's the best 
They've tasted.
That's the closure everyone 
In the family wanted..
That's what you thought.

But your kid still goes on 
Aking about me and you never 
Realise when he started 
Referring to me as papa.

And what shocks you more
Is why the hell is he referring
To your husband as mama.