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The omniscient eye

OORMILA VIJAYAKRISHNAN PRAHLAD
On Victoria Avenue 
sits a mauve shop house
in a grand row of four, a century old
with a half-circle window
on its parched forehead--
an omniscient Cyclops Eye
of gold.

it’s cold
and the clouds are closing in
twilight drapes like a purple pall
the lone yellow eye
of the shop house window
looks out
at the lights of Chatswood mall

where all the behemoths glint and glow
in the last flaxen rays 
of dwindling light
ten thousand windows, studded gems--
testaments to steel 
and concrete might.

at night
the shop house window mulls
pondering an end 
that steadily draws near
in ten years, or five
maybe even a year
the steel giants are sure
to come trampling here.

A tryst with the roses

OORMILA VIJAYAKRISHNAN PRAHLAD
in the oppressive heat of midsummer 
polyester frocks and ruffle-lace bottoms--
mother’s idea of toddler fashion
feels like sheer punishment.   
 
behind the canopy of canna lilies
I strip down to just my bloomers
running through the rose garden
a feral Mowgli, black curls bouncing
patting heads of hibiscus
pewter pots brimming with petunias
as mother’s disapproving voice trails
a quivering shrillness behind me.
 
the thorns on the rows of rose bushes
etch scribbles into my sun-baked skin
welts of white in criss-crossed lines
hair-thin rivulets of blood
marbling into grains of maroon.
 
while mother chases, calling my name
my doffed dress hoisted high
in her exasperated grip
the skies rend without warning
monsoon clouds with cheeks puffed blue
spewing torrents upon the earth.
 
the loam wakes up hissing
water sizzling through startled cracks
droplets nipping pinpricks on my scratches
as I watch the dried blood on my arms
dribble back to life, streaming
while the roses laugh
convulsing in the rain.
Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad is a Sydney artist, poet, and pianist of Indian heritage. She is a member of the North Shore Poetry Project and Authora Australis. Her recent works have been published in Poets Resist, The Eunoia Review, the Ekphrastic Review, Neologism, and several other literary journals in Australia, US, Canada, and the UK. 

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