Karthik

he comes
riding his mother's waist
grins and shows
his already darkening teeth
one, two no three
amulets tied on black & red threads
hang around his tiny neck
kohl that would have sufficed
me a month
is all there
making him look
like a kathakali performer
the black dot to ward of evil
can not be missed on his forehead
his hands clutch
at the orange ice-candy
he snatched from his elder brother
runs for the bright red
anthurium in the pot
as soon as mum
puts him down
"no, no" say I
he looks at me
with a lopsided grin
his mum is sweeping the garden
dust rises up
all around
his ice-candy is melting
down his arms
instinct makes me pick him up
and then
I gauge
I think
I put him down
where his mum
has finished sweeping...