Altaa** from fertile footprints
has left a bloody trail;
patterns fading after a few steps.
The walls burnished here
and there with prints of palm;
dried turmeric powder spills down.
The house still smells of marigold,
broken petals collected in the corner;
the flowers are wilting.
The crumpled bedsheet whiffs
in disappointment from last night of union—
yet another anticlimax!
**Altaa is rose red color dye used to adorn and decorate hands and feet of Indian women.
Debasis Tripathy is originally from Odisha, a state in eastern India, but he currently lives in Bangalore. He started writing seriously a little late, but luckily since then, within a short span he has his writing published in FormerCactus, Prachya Review, Nuances, CLRI Journal, Setu, Muse India, Pangolin Review, and Indian Review, among others.
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