containing passages from dictionaries; along with the shell or husk; along with the membrane

Nisha Ramayya

this is the shell of the mundane egg
winding from left to right
appearing outside itself
life and heart appear outside itself

you have “not seen before”
turning from left to right
opening to the right
the valve of which opens to the right

a bivalve shell
(moving slowly)
an elephant’s head
(difficult penance)
anything shaped like a cauldron

she is “lotus-born”
world blooms from her navel
crusted whorls soften in salt

her staircase body
crawls out of its shell
formed like a palace or temple

Nisha Ramayya

three lines in the neck
(marking good fortune)
shell-necked tortoise
unanswerable lines

your neck folds like a spiral shell
wounds caused by finger nails
working after pearls

she wears bracelets of gold and shell
the shell of anything
blows into battle-white
sheath of pleasure
sheath of will or life

the convolution of a shell
jewel-studded evening hour
sea-flower pearl-shell
she husks herself loudly

your hair curls to the right
(she is an auspicious mark)
ashes of burnt shell
shell-born and shell-dissolver
drink the impossible milk