Aparna Pathak
Scrutiny
I am not living with the man I married.
I am living with two eyes instead—vulture eyes that never blink, never miss a move, always in command. It feels like a CCTV camera is always watching me.
Before I can even switch off a button after cooking, a hand comes forward to switch it off, making me realise that I could have saved a few seconds of electricity. I am tutored on how to drink, how to chew, how to breathe. I follow his routine—when to sleep, when to get up. He even knows when I am feeling the heat enough to need the air conditioner, or cold enough to need the heater.
Sometimes I imagine what he would do if I became a star. He’d still dictate in which corner of the sky I should shine.
fireflies
even the moon
has a day off
About the Author
Aparna Pathak’s achievements include “Haiku Master of the Month,” NHK World Haiku Masters (April & November 2016); third place, UHTS Samurai Haibun contest (2016); shortlisted in Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems (2016); first place in the Sonic Boom Senryu Contest (2018).