Let her come

Let him come, sit beside me, lift with both hands this bowed head and brush away the hair that falls across my forehead.

Let him stay, speak a word or two;
let him rest his eyes on the ground of my eyes and ask, whom were you thinking of all last night that kept you from sleep?

Let him laugh, take my hand and walk beside me.
Let him call me by some name that no one else calls me.

Let him understand that someone stays awake for him through the night, waits, darkens her eyes with kohl, puts on her most beloved sari again and again, stands before the mirror humming songs in the deep of night.

Let him become mine, let him become entirely, completely mine—my own person!