MY VILLAGE CHILDREN

I used to sit at the balcony
of the old one storey
every morning
and watch the little boys
hurriedly going to check their traps,
half naked
while the chickened ones offered to do the cooking
the little girls, their rappers glued to their bodies
If it loosened one bit
they dropped their brooms to tie it
eyeing the boys around
who weren't even looking their way
as if they had something worth covering
other than two tiny stones on their chest
and a flat behind  some forced to shake
with the aid of the beads around their waist
as they held on to their mother's hand
on the way to the market
"Ta! ogini!"
they would scream at any boy who dared look their way
The boys always ran away,giggling
and saying one to another
"I will deal with those pompous girls!"
Then I laughed...