AS BALD AS DEATH

Must I wear 'Bata' shoes
A gentleman’s hat;
Put on 'Raymond' coat,
a glittering tie, or
A shining belt
a creased trouser
and, buckle all,
to walk my poetry, in

though
I bash a blush
to put lipstick
like, a women do;
bangles that clink the wrist
or,
a sari to cloak my skin
or,
high heels for a sturdy walk

I
a half man, and
a woman too

fully ornamented

a bridegroom
and a bride,
to marriage my ‘self’, and
My beauty too

Not that 'm chimera or phoenix
Or
God of any kind

or,
must I show my bald head,
femur, shaking calcified bones,
a walking through the cane
that I do, and
slurry my path along;
lingering and pausing, repeatedly
along, the fearful path
Where it blows
its last horn
as bald as death