1.
A man reads the newspaperas if his son would turn upon page three. The chaiwallah makesa cutting, not because a half is any differentbut because it isjust enough.
2.
The iron press is as big as her,the coal as much as her,the crumpled elephants embroideredare straightened out. Her daughter in the back,as old as me but not as young,puts her mirror in the deepest partsof the wooden trunklike she knows her purposeis to cause reflections; the reflectionshere to stay; she to gowith the only assurance that her mirroris safe from the stranger.
***
Photo by Timon Studler on Unsplash