The yearnings of a woman at the day’s end, celebrated evocatively, by Mandakini, exclusively for Different Truths.

Lipsticks as footnotes
I carve on the arch
Of my lips,
That swell sensuous
And bloom forth in red blood,
As my hand traces,
Meandering on faces,
The remains of sad lust
And red-copper sawdust
Of bone-dry evenings…
A jerk stops the lipstick,
And a sad clown in deep pink
From the mirror smiles back.

The sheen of face powder
On sweat trickling under,
The roll of stockings
That silken glide.
Oh!! Those bronzers and blushes,
And a thousand grimaces
That pout and pirouette
In sad light of evenings;
The curls that cajole,
The eyelashes that roll,
And beseech, and whimper,
Oh, love me tender,
And call me beautiful
Just once!!

Photo from the Internet