Domestic Shades 1 Poem by Indira Renganathan

1
As early from bed I rise
So early the electricity dies
Accustomed hands paint blind shades
Then a lit candle lights the house
Unwilling to break a tradition
I go on the kolam expedition
Custom unlocks the portico
With water and quartz I go
Dawn is Mahalakshmi's time prime
So dark, also stealer's time crime
I'm warned to be back inside
My hubby is in fear's stride
I let him keep shouting
Safe then is my feeling
I finish haphazardly
Cursing the power-failure highly

2
When she was wide and deep in bulk
She came oceanic in force
We had overflowing sumps
All houses all time
Old by age
Slow sometimes
Slower sometimes
The slowest this day
Making me wait ear-sharpened
For her falling utterance...
Not even incontinent this tap
Hissing for a wink and then dead
Thamiraparani is weak and wormy
Meeting us on fourth or fifth day weekly
Worming through the pipeline
And we, the patient waiters