Swayamvar

Anything is easier -

To do without, to wither,

Serve, and slave, to let

Choices be made that turn

Blood sluggish - anything

Rather than see your eyes

Become the other's

And say, I want this. Nothing

Is harder than to say, Yes, this,

This face, this stone, this sky, this song,

This, this, and not another.

From A Play of Light: Selected Poems (Viking, Penguin Books India)

copyright Ruth Vanita

(India)

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