The Summer I was Six
by Urvashi Bahuguna


We dabbled
in newspaper boats,

currency that
drowned easy.

But at six,
I was a romantic.

So I fashioned
one from chart paper.

The words
of my love poetry
growing soggy
as they travelled
down the stream.

At eight,
he was destructive.

He capsized the boat.

It sank.

And he won
the game.






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