Exposed
Flesh |
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Hareendran Kallinkeel It's been a while since I slept well. Safety pins have stolen my sleep. I consider them as potential danger. They prick, and if rusted, may cause terrible harm. The torment can be endless. Exposed flesh is even more troublesome. It may entice you to sin, and what entails can be disastrous. So are torn clothes. Separated seams reveal skin, and ignite lust. Returning from a day's hard labor, fatigue numbed by a mug of toddy, I slump on a mat by my daughter's side. As I wrap my arm around her, my palm brushes against the tiny swell of her budding breast. I slide down my hand. The cold metallic touch of a safety pin that holds together the seams of her dress, keeps me awake. The fear that the pin may prick her deprives me of sleep. Her mother, on the other side of the mat, snores. A day's hard work, and the faith in the pin's ability to hold the seams together to conceal flesh, lulls her to slumber. After several sleepless days, I decide to remove the safety pin. The seams come apart. My daughter's exposed flesh saddens me. But, that day I sleep well, reassured that the pin no more poses any danger. In my dreams,
I buy her a new dress. |
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| After
obtaining voluntary retirement from an elite commando outfit under the government
of India, Hareendran Kallinkeel presently works for an
online portal, helping college students from the US with their writing projects,
and resides in his hometown, Taliparamba (Kerala), with his family consisting
of wife, two children, a maid and a German Shepherd. He owns a farm of rubber,
coconut, pepper and areca nut plantations, where he also keeps his cows
and chickens. He
is published in Sulekha (several issues), Cyberman Books,
Literary Potpourri, Poet's Canvas, Cenotaph Pocket Edition, Gator Springs
Gazette, Muse Apprentice Guild, Blood Lust UK, Penumbric Speculative Fiction
Magazine, Whispers of Wickedness, Chick Flick E-zine, Slow Trains, Skive
Magazine (online) and Peeks & Valleys, Thought Magazine, |
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