ANOMALY
Lakshmi Ramachandran
Desire stirred and reared
her head in surprise,
to find for companion,
an anomaly, a misfit,
yet strangely, a perfect
fit-she gazed in surprise
at an old woman’s sorrow
wrongly come to show the way
Surprise was all
she was allowed to feel
Even as she burgeoned
she felt Her pointed, ebony hands,
sucking out life, and energy