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A Secret Affair

by Saikat Das

A man talks about his interesting relationship with a yellow shirt in this poem by Saikat Das.

From the hanger the shirt
Is staring at me
Thinking

When she will ‘put on’ me

She’s a yellow shirt, almost faded
And a bit crumpled
But knows precisely
How far I can go

For her

She is more exacting than my wife

She even tolerates her rival
But simply bites me
For the lizards

Those loiter around the hanger
And touch her occasionally

I wash her every Sunday and Thursday
With my own hands
She says the washing machine
Is not for her

When she dries herself on the rope
After her bath
A quiet scent comes out
Of her soul

Her yellow skin fluttering in the air
Doesn’t quite make you thirsty
Only lends you a shade

The rest of the week
She is nearest to my skin

My wife
Keeps a tight eye on me
But never suspects her

There she is
Grinning at me

Now she will ‘put on’ me
And go for an evening walk.

Saikat Das (39), comes from Chinsurah, a Dutch settlement on the banks of river Hugli. A teacher in a sub-urban High School, he dreams of writing a novel but has always ended up writing poems that wink at him rather mischievously, taunting his bouts of passion that never quite make it to a novel. But he hasn’t given up.
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