Issue 5 - June 2026 - Tanka prose 6
Rosewood
He was a man of few words. His room felt like a sacrosanct space scented with vermillion and wet sacred ash slowly drying in the warmth of the ceiling fan. A lush crimson hibiscus bush saturated his room with pink light.
wafting in the air
a lavender-scented
white veshti
speckled with snuff . . .
our shared silence
He had just four things in his room – a writing table, a cupboard, an armchair and a single cot. Everything neatly dusted, meticulously laid out on his table, to the precise degree and angle. His clothes, books, stationery, medicines and personal belongings all stacked up to perfection.
teakwood table —
a sepia-tinted photo
of grandma
smiling under a glass top
sprinkled with javvadhu
Occasionally, he would call me in to share with me a few Threptin biscuits, some paper cuttings, and a gift of a graphite pencil.
magnifying glass —
on the flyleaf
of a Shakespeare volume
in tiny cursive red ink
“to my granddaughter”
Vaishnavi Ramaswamy, India
___
*veshti - dhothi
*javvadhu - a fragrant herbal powder
*Threptin - a brand of high-protein biscuits
Lovely piece, Vaishnavi.
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