The Deliverer by Tishani Doshi: AS Level
The Deliverer by Tishani Doshi OUR LADY OF THE LIGHT CONVENT, KERALA The sister here is telling my mother How she came to collect children Because they were crippled or dark or girls. Found naked in the streets, Covered in garbage, stuffed in bags, Abandoned at their doorstep. One of them was dug up by a dog, Thinking the head barely poking above the ground Was bone or wood, something to chew. This is the one my mother will bring. * * * MILWAUKEE AIRPORT, USA The parents wait at the gates. They are American so they know about ceremony And tradition, about doing things right. They haven't seen or touched her yet. Don't know of her fetish for plucking hair off hands, Or how her mother tried to bury her. But they are crying. We couldn't stop crying, my mother said, Feeling the strangeness of her empty arms. * * * This girl grows up on video tapes, Sees how she's passed from woman ...