in my mother’s cupboard
there is the smell of naphthalene
that’s only a little stronger than
all the smells of all the houses we have lived in
my former best friend loved me very much
but sometimes she didn’t like the chappals i wore
and this she told me clearly
her long eyelashes now falling, now staying
sometimes i think you don’t like me
but that’s ok because today
i have found the courage to tell myself
that i don’t like you more
today she dropped her brand new i pad
and withdrew into a corner, shaken and dismayed
i picked it up and hugged her warmly in my mind
it’s ok, i told her — suddenly wanting to cry.
