3, ఏప్రిల్ 2026, శుక్రవారం

The Imprinting

 The Imprinting    - Vanaja Tatineni


It is not merely anger or hatred;

Nor is it only when I am subjected—without cause—

To the envy and malice of others;

Even the affection, adoration, love, and fondness

Professed by total strangers

Render me unstable—

Pushing me into a state of insecurity.

I—who, until that moment, remained curled up

Like a touch me not,  or a sleeping tree,  

and withdraw myself into the shell just as a snail.

I—who stood planted like a hard rock in the desert—

Slowly drift toward you.

For I have bound my very life to yours—

Affixing it inextricably.

Because, long before my physical death,

I had already died within you.

Whether it be a speck of dust settling on my shoulder,

Or a butterfly, charmed by my heart, poised to land upon it—

I ruthlessly brush them all away.

I wear a sharp, thorny over coat.

For betrayal is not my surname.


(The original poem in Telugu “TaapaDam)


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