As I open the cupboard to fetch
packets of turmeric and ginger,
out sidles a grey, striped creature,
scampering towards my favourite rug.
Like I have banished it from its country.
It might have colonized the bottom shelf;
I’d never know, I’m not friends with it.
For a moment, my skin turns ice-cold.
It might visit our bedroom, shapeshifting
into the monster my daughter fears.
But it slithers, mocking my apprehension,
to its usual jaunt - under the fridge.
As the milk comes to a perfect boil,
each bubble reflecting my tortured soul,
I see another one on the glass cupboard.
Its posterior skin - a pastel cream.
Tail swaying, throat pulsating, it moves.
I wonder whether it’s the same one.
Somehow it made its way into the kitchen,
while I was skillfully daydreaming
about the masks I should wear for the day.
It climbs to the side jamb and settles there.
And I’m still wondering if it’s the same.
I quell the urge to check under the fridge.
As I stride towards the laundry basket,
another one trots down the peach wall.
I swallow a scream and drop the clothes.
Now I’m sure it’s a teleporting witch,
as it hides coolly amidst the broomsticks.
It’d soon milk my disgust to have fun.
Are there three of them? Or just one?
Did I wrong the species in my past life?
There are three, there are three, I am sure.
Chirp, chirp, chirp goes another one.
Lizard sound astrology be damned,
I want to fumigate the goddamn house.
~Kavya Janani. U
This poem was published in the Modern Literature magazine in November 2024.
If you love my poems, please purchase a copy of my poetry books here - https://linktr.ee/kavya.janani
You can read my other freeverse poetry here: Freeverse Poetry by Kavya Janani. U