Her body shaking, she raises her ankle up
to her waist, palm up palm down, arms
vibrating bangles to the elbow.
This bank teller turned devi
who swallows flames, takes the soot
from her mouth and rubs it into foreheads.
Sticking her blackened tongue out, she’ll
start searching for men to gather
at her feet. Don’t question
why heat starts to raise from your arms,
why the balls of your heels ache to stomp
the ground, why howling laughter begins.
Ashley Somwaru is an Indo-Caribbean woman who was born and raised in Queens, New York. She received an MFA in poetry from Queens College, City College of New York. Somwaru has recently published a chapbook in 2021 titled, Urgent \ Where The Mind Goes \ Scattered. Previous work has been published in A Gathering Together, Peach Velvet Magazine, No, Dear Magazine, and more.
