A Missing Person

by Jayanta Mahapatra

In the darkened room
a woman
cannot find her reflection in the mirror

waiting as usual
at the edge of sleep

In her hands she holds
the oil lamp
whose drunken yellow flames
know where her lonely body hides

© Jayanta Mahapatra
From: Collected Poems
Publisher: Paperwall Media & Publishing Pvt.Ltd. (2018)