Smell of jasmine on my oiled hair

silk against my skin

ruby studded bangle heavy on my hands

glint and capture the first rays of sunlight.

Below the gold and silk

panic flows smoothly as ripples.

 


I press the pleats of my silk sari

bunched up in pain and anxiety.

The cloying smell of jasmines

with their spent pollens

stir the space around.

Ropes of pain bind me

I lie down

mind alive

to see my breath escape out.

Silk, gold, jasmine wrap me, like ether.