sky blue tarpaulin

avva’d gasped, scared for an instant but then

quickly realized appa’d done it intentionally

and burst out laughing scolding him

probably shouting obscenities

she was about to grab the concrete block

when he’d lowered it just out of reach

he’d been pulling them up to her on the third floor

where i remember her standing by the rickety pulley

she laughed and grabbed the block, passing it along
to yellava akka who stood smiling next in line

and it must’ve found its way into the bare wall

that like so many others we saw, grow taller in time

her skin was dark and luminescent
her raven hair always tied back neat
she had a pair of silver toe rings and
in her small ears, three earrings each

the end of her sari was tucked in at the waist
and she was wearing a cloth around the head

he was standing outside the door-less ground-floor room

with rolled up bundles that were our beds

beside stacked white sacks and over heaps of sand

and cement, clothes dried on a line hung up between

the walls that had pictures of gods and actors and all our belongings

hanging from nails. our home until it was complete

and sometimes we’d join in too, jumping onto

the rope and letting our weight do the pulling

and sometimes between buildings we’d sleep

on the pavement beneath sky blue tarpaulins