“It’s a promise!
Someday
I’ll ink your name
on my skin
like a badge of honour
but
you proposed
testing my patience,
only after being asking for.
Beware that
my scars and wounds
can turn you
into a chain-smoker
Today, it’s a second chance
for us both,
which overshadows
us from having our second thoughts,
but post the honeymoon phase
You and I
will have to accept that
this isn’t a fully wilful one.
And maybe one day,
if you see me ink a different name,
don’t blame me.”
Sriramgokul Chinnasamy lives in Chennai, India and has M.A. in Creative Writing from Teesside University, UK. He is the author of ‘The Selfie Boy and Other Short Stories’ and ‘A Teesside Girl and Other Poems’. His poems have appeared in magazines and anthologies in the UK (Envoi, Live from Worktown, The Ash), US (Poetry Bay), Ireland (Blue Nib), Singapore (Kitaab Online), Canada (The Muse) and India (Muse India, Bengaluru Review). He also translates contemporary poetry between English and Tamil for magazines. FB/Insta/X: @sriramsrg