Hanuman
by Sharanya Manivannan
- The man with the heart that grew armor
- took my breasts in his palms
- and torn asunder, there, was
- mine.
- I took his bloody hands and
- looked him in the eyes.
- I am not a woman who must
- prepare for sadness, I said.
- I am not a woman who
- cannot tell the place of the
- original sin from the evil of its twin.
- Crack me open, I said.
- Take from me all I can give.
- The god in me saw the god
- in you. Our demons
- saw each other too.
- My heart is a cactus.
- My heart has been waiting
- for your stone. I’m as opaque
- as the water
- waiting within, flooded full
- and capable
- of unimaginable giving.
- Come, ugly one.
- Bring me your dirty paws
- and your bearded countenance,
- your blueness, your bliss. Bring me
- nothing if that is all you are
- capable of bearing.
- I’ll take it all.
- I’ll take every last
- bulletproof
- offering.
