Devaki's profile

I watched the flame on the strawberries and cream jar candle on the bedside table dim to an ember and extinguish itself. The display on the alarm clock read five o’clock in the morning, its menacing red numbers casting odd shadows against the wall. Sitting up, I reached for the dress I’d thrown haphazardly to the floor a few hours earlier. Even though she didn’t speak, I could feel Anna watching me from the other side of the bed. The air was thick with the weight of unspoken thoughts, hers a...

Sister at Arms I hear your rebellion blaring down the street Search for liberty from the chains of femininity Shoulder the weight of oppression Just to show your strength Wearing other women’s battle scars To bear witness to the struggle And to prove that you believe Sister at Arms You offer up your unconceived children On the altar of pseudo-equality And seduce women to prove That we’re just as good as men Looking over your shoulder At the feminist icons of our past To watch them roll over i...

I feel you looking at me when I enter the room, searching in me for something to hate, some remaining follicle of my past indiscretions, but I’m not her. I’m not the woman who stripped you down to bear bones, broke you open to suck out the marrow and spit your shell on the sidewalk. I’ve never been one to force the bend just to hear the sound when you break, but you’re right about one thing - I can be cruel. I’m the type who’ll reach my fingers inside, scratch my nail over the nerve to expose...

I’m in a committed relationship She says to me, pulling a tank top on over her naked breasts I prop myself up on one arm lazily Sprawled across the bed Like the Cheshire cat with a belly full of milk I say I know She tells me he’s a contractor Points out the little white line on the third finger of her left hand That I noticed after about the second drink And tells me they’re getting married in December A Christmas wedding The bridesmaids are wearing red dresses with white fur trim And carryi...

I’m walking down Market Street East when this Apocalyptic preacher in a priest’s collar A copy of Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary opened in one hand And an origami-style folded 3-D paper cross made from newspaper stretched out in the other Steps out in front of me Gives me this look like I’m personally responsible for the crucifixion of Christ and says Are you saved? I look to my left Then to my right And seeing no one else I have any hope of engaging I think to myself I sure as hell ...