GRIEF Poem: Cabbage, by Nithya Mariam John

Before, I peel each layer carefully,
I baptise in the memory of that night
when you coaxed me into the bathtub
licked all over me with your bubbling tongue
pressed my thighs and breasts
before we had sex on the bathroom floor.
I cut through the pale green leafy vegetable
which will soon be shredded into bits,
seasoned with coconut
and cooked to my husband’s favourite thoran.
But before I offer myself in bed
for probing, fingering and shredding,
I wash myself in the scent of mustards and curry leaves
popping and swishing,
making music in an oily tub.

*thoran- a vegetable cuisine popular in Kerala, India

Author: poetryfest

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