Published September 15th, 2024
India Poetry Magazine Contest #1 – First Place
by Shraddha Mohapatra
your skin of mahogany, copper-tinted with the warmth tone,
it hasn't been decorated with poems like the porcelain one.
the lanterns dangle around that skin,
you bloom as a star under sunlight,
yet the distant brown orb fails to make the world rhyme.
your hair aromatic of earth and husk, long strands of divinity,
they graze your waist as you walk through the crowd,
as serene as the dark thunderstorm and deserted rain.
sometimes, you fear the tenebrosity wrapping each curl,
and how can I delineate the goddess it unfurls.
however, every morning, when you stand by the mirror,
your fingers striving to ornament those eyes in kohl,
I daze agape at your charcoal eyes,
along them metallic silvers you adorn.
never the stardust, neither celestial bodies can interfere
with the beauty you're made of,
you are about the soil and honey.
you are about the rays of sun knocking my windows at dawn,
and a woman I could ever be.
About the Poet
Shraddha Mohapatra resides in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
Read the poet's biography on Shraddha Mohapatra's Artist Page.
This poem is also featured in Wax Poetry and Art Magazine #5,
published in the Wax Poetry and Art Library.
Previously published in India Poetry Magazine:
The Lost Flowers of Lunia
by Dhanya S. Nambiar
India Poetry Magazine is part of the Wax Poetry and Art Network.
- Visit the main Wax Poetry and Art Submissions Page to see all opportunities.
- Visit the Wax Poetry and Art Library.
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