Love is not the ruby lips in a half-smile
or kohl – lined eyes
beckoning to the lover
love is the weather – beaten face wrinkled in a grin
watching the gurgling child
calloused hands
making chapattis for a family of five
mangled hair, dirty skirt
bare feet running in the fields
after that errant calf and sheep
the sure – footed gait of a woman
carrying pots of water
on her head