Henna Tattoo

India, 1686: Malika Dhai whispers to herself

Monsoon skies began to weep

My flag burning bright orange

Pale ghosts thundered on their steeds

Gun shots fired in smoke stench

Like Amla leaves in howling winds

We bend, unsure, and quiver

Begone, my deepest shame!

Your name alone can make me shiver

My love is a Gulmohar tree

That blooms in silent summers

I glimpse your face, too bright to be

A sunrise behind your father

Your hair a pale jowar

Cyan eyes reflect the sky

Mine linger, pray you closer

The body cannot lie

You stand, a newborn calf

Fragile, sweet, and spotless

Your skin, dawn-kissed, cool milk

Pale, untouched, and harmless

Could you be my jaaneman

Who gifts me mango flowers

Beneath my low-slung rattan seat

Where babes would sleep in jasmine bowers?

Lightning leaps from havan flame

Maya wraps me in silk lies

I mustn't taste your name again

I veil the self I ought to hide

My mother wails at spices

My father counts the chickens

My siblings ask what rice is

I forget how I've been starving

For I doodle mehndi on my skin

Humming secrets to the moon

(Henry William Anderson

I am in love with you)

हेनरी विलियम एंडरसन

मैं तुमसे प्यार करती हूँ।