Get too chummy with girls
your ears will dry up, you said.
If you are naughty
God will strike you blind, you said.
When I worried you for things to eat,
It’s bad for your tummy, you said
I got you in exchange for a
winnow of bran, you said.
What a lot of lies, Mother, you told me
when I was young!
What made you stop?
Or did you think
I could survive with truth?
Perhaps you thought
lies for grownups were beyond your ken
and left it to the government
to rule by the law.
I don’t like it.
Wean me, mother, when you like,
But feed me your lies
for all time.
You love me, don’t you?
Translated from the Tamil by Ashokamitran