Carving Stories From Tears

By Dhruv Tangri

Like withering flowers your smile fades,

You look at your wrinkles, 

Like the rough bark of a tree, in the mirror each day.

You worry about the put-on weight,

You worry about me and yourself like we’re both the same. 

I seek you like the river seeks the giant sea, 

I pour myself into your thoughts because you’re just like me. 

You are me, ma, afraid of who we will be,

No apologies can fix what I did to you it seems. 

You protect me like a pearl resting on the flesh-bed of an oyster,

I would undo all the wrongs if I was given a choice to. 

When the wolves cry on barren rocks under the lonely moon,

I stay awake wishing I could heal you but I am broken too.

Long black circles under your eyes and a constant frown, 

You talk to yourself without making a sound, 

Hell-bound screams, I’ve lost count,

The number of times we go over the same circle of violence round and round,

The tears on your face carve a story in your skin that’s untold. 

By Dhruv Tangri