Nails (Un)painted by Padmaja Battani

Buried in a black robe

Keeping her head down

She enters the classroom

Like a dark cloud

As always sits

Next to me

Smiling with her eyes

Her hands adjust

The burka habitually

Exposing the nails

Unpainted

In contrast to my

Painted nails

Red and oval shaped

How she admires

The nails painted

Fixing her gaze

On the bright hue

At first, she is

Nervous and not

Willing to take on

The adventure –

To get her nails

Painted

‘Just keep it on

For a few hours

I’ll remove it

Before we leave’

I persuade

Sitting on the

Back bench I open

My bag of treasure –

A bunch of nail colors

Cotton pads and

A bottle of polish remover

Her hands tremble

Making it difficult to

Apply the hue

‘Finished, now tell me

How they look’ I challenge

She devotes the next

Two hours staring

At her colored nails

Seeming mesmerized

When it is time for epilogue

I promptly wipe off

The nail paints

Leaving not a single trace

Teary eyed, she pours

A few drops of perfume

Rubbing into her

Unpainted nails

And sniffs them

To check any hidden

Scents of the polish

Lingering on

Nods ruefully

As traces of the hues

And her smiles

Vanish into air

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Padmaja Battani, originally from India, lives in Connecticut.  She received an MA in English Literature.  Her work has appeared in Sierra Poetry Festival, Trouvaille Review, New Pages, Coffee People Zine and Black Cat Magazine. Her latest passion is hiking. She is currently working on a Poetry Collection.