They decriminalized adultery.
Apparently my broken heart is no longer
The problem of the government of India.
We’ll just have to depend on your conscience now.
I’m not entirely without proof though,
We weren’t alone when you swore
To love, to cherish, to honour, to protect, to abide,
and not even death can do us apart.
My father who gave me away,
My mother who wept in joy,
My aunt who secured the knot,
My brothers who carried me on their shoulders,
My sisters who coyly giggled,
as you parted my hair with the crimson of your promise.
Our friends who flung sanctified rice in approval,
And the five elements, earth, fire, water, air and ether that solemnized,
I call on all of them today
To bear witness again.
A threshold has been crossed.
The threshold of my pain.
It’s my heart you stepped on
As you stepped out in stealth.
I declare a crime has been committed.
Against my heart.

© Hema Gopinathan Sah 2018