Brown Girl

brown-girl

Brown paper packages come to mind here.
Like a Sri Lankan, 35 years,
Sold on a paper advertisement,
Traded by her parents.
Should I say brown paper packages
Tied up with string here?
Nah it rarely rains virgins here.

And it seems we are jinxed, our women
Are never love machines, SHHHH, that’s done
In secret in a bedroom in the dark
Just baby machines who when you stuff
Her with a heating rod, makes sugar babies
With caramel skin.

And still a brown woman
Is no brown paper package in string,
Nor is she the keeper of her ovaries,
Throwing curves balls every month.
Only a preservative of what is precious ,
The heart works that no paper can sell,
Only time can stamp.

And brown are the cinnamon quills
That you sprinkle on a cake
Or the brown sugar that always
Leaves an extra oomph factor on your tongue
And brown is the curry woman
Who will be traded by her parents

To flow like gravy on
A man’s coconut shell spoon.

Published by Curiosity-driven life (Dilantha Gunawardana)

Dr Dilantha Gunawardana graduated from the University of Melbourne, as a molecular biologist, and moonlights as a poet. He currently serves as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Botany, University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Dilantha lives in a chimeric universe of science and poetry. Dilantha’s poems have been accepted for publication /published in HeartWood Literary Magazine, Canary Literary Magazine, Boston Accent, Forage, Kitaab, Eastlit, American Journal of Poetry, Zingara Poetry Review, The Wagon and Ravens Perch, among others. Dilantha too has two anthologies of poetry, 'Kite Dreams' (2016) and 'Driftwood' (2017), both brought to the readership by Sarasavi Publishers, and is working on his third poetry collection (The Many Constellations of Home). Dilantha’s pet areas of teaching and research, include, Nitrogen Fixation, RNA biology, Phytoremediation, Agricultural Biology, and Bioethics & Biosafety. Dilantha blogs at – https://meandererworld.wordpress.com/ -, where he has nearly 2000 poems. View all posts by Curiosity-driven life (Dilantha Gunawardana)