Author: Neeti Sadarangani
Born: 1967
Bio: from the book, a poem:

Come, Lift Me

In a red skirt and saffron scarf I went.
To my lord's house I went.

The steps singed my feet
the steep walls questioned me
I turned 
               my Lord
from the eighth step,
and took to the streets.

The beggers pulled my clothes
i exchanged them for their rags
and shed my only gold -
a ring, in the thick black pond
by their huts

in open hair and blackened clothes,
street dogs chased me for fun
a mad woman kissed me
and a serpent once, mistook
my neck for a tree.

my dear come
to me, come
lift me!

under the peepul
by the gutter one morning
while bathing i slipped,
my skull hit the rock
and my lord smiled.

O how i ran!
leaving in my haste
my naked black body
in the water...