two women

I must lose two inches , my dear
or I won't fit into the Tarun Tahiliani
and what a disaster that'd be
so oil free food for me, please,
for two weeks at least -----
I heard her say as I laid out
her pearly chiffons
and the accessories
whose names I couldn't pronounce
my thoughts kept turning to
my infant daughter's cries
her sister watching over her
stony eyed, swishing away the flies
their father lay in a stupor
what remained of my savings
clutched tightly in his fist
the knuckles bruised, the blood caked dry