tanka trio for applying eyeliner
rita mookerjee
Remember: more is
more and don’t try to do it
in one stroke. I can
do it but I’ve had twenty
years of practice. Yes, I was
sneaking my mom’s kohl
from her vanity at ten
and tracing to my
temples for ballet nights when
I felt real, brown, bright.
Muscle memory
ties that feeling to my brush
so that when I glide
from tearduct to mideye, I see
spotlights: where I’m meant to be.
vol. 01
summer 2021
A South Asian femme stands in front of a glassy building in a city wearing a short black A-line sleeveless high neck dress and black pointed toed pumps. She has long straight dark brown hair, smokey eyes with long eyelashes and tattoos down one of her arms. She is looking off camera in a more candid pose while walking.
about the artist
Rita Mookerjee is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Women's and Gender Studies Program at Iowa State University. Her poetry is featured in Juked, Hobart Pulp, New Orleans Review, The Offing, and the Baltimore Review.