Black Bangles

I had a dozen of black bangles
Carried for tingles
Sign of a benign presage
Wore to envisage
Beauty; but not the ugly

Taking toll for a fight
Dad called me black
Mom gave a sympathetic glance
Unaware I was till then
Believed in the beauty of night till then
Adored the unpredictability of darkness till then
Believed in the good omen of my black bangles till then
Oblivious of the apartheid
Seow a seed of insecurity,
A hidden fear
Of rejection, of ban
Broken bangles and shattered dreams
Were all I saw in the greens
Till someone said, “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder”

And it holds true
For you are my reflections
For the world contained in me
And I am in you

Now I have a dozen of black bangles
Carrying for tingles
Sign of a benign presage
Wearing to envisage
Beauty; but not the ugly
I see you beautiful
Beyond your skin and bones
Beyond your veins and cells
Where your soul lies!