We won’t tip-toe
outside
grim-messaged wards.
Nurses n’ televisions
cackle
lone
coloured
frowns.
“Diabetic amputations are common,” nods Dr Naidoo.
You are wheeled back
into lip-gloss camaraderie
Almost too sweet.
As rhinestone clutches
quickly swallow:
Cutex
Candy
Toe rings
Anklets.
Fearing phantom desires
out-caste slippers
shuffling inauspiciously at your door.
Wardens baton time
giggling champagne lips
Wave smiles to your 7th-floor window
We trip hard on mangled Gulmohar roots
A wry-smiled reminder
to watch our step.
Manola Gayatri is the co-founder of Scribe Rites and post-doc fellow at Drama Dept, University of Pretoria. She is a horrendously cheating occasional vegetarian, who will steal all your gravy and complain endlessly about salads.