Boyhood

I was jinxed
till the spell broke

when for the first time, I saw

a woman nude

That's when I realized
that without clothes
women are
different creatures
altogether
A different creation
deserving a separate noun-
an abstract noun
a different horoscope
too, perhaps

A trickery
this surreal haunt-
one move
to betray mankind
stealthily
A hypocrisy
A punishment



I was a boy
agape
besieged
grappling with the secret
of this dual existence

But
soon I understood
what business of being a man
would be like
in one serious aspect


.