கணினி

மணியோ பதினொன்று
மனைவி நான் இங்கு
மனவாளன் எங்கென்று
மயங்கி கிடக்க

மடியில் அவளோடு
மயக்கத்தில் மணியோட
மங்கை என்னை
மறந்தானேன் ?

கை சேர்த்து போவதென்ன
தோல் சுமந்து வருவவென்ன
சட்டென்று கை சரிந்தால்
வெடுக்கென்று பிடிப்பதென்ன

பாசாங்கு இன்றி
பக்குவமாய் வந்து
படுக்கை வரை
வந்து விட்டாளே

எனக்கும் பிடித்தவள் தான்
என் இடத்தை பிடிப்பதா

தண்டிக்கவா, துண்டிக்கவா
துறக்கவா, துரத்தவா
இல்லை..
தூக்கி எறியவா

விரல் காட்டும் வித்தையை
வீசிடு எனக்கும்
விளையாட நான் தயார்
விடியும் வரைக்கும்.

[]

This is a deeply evocative poem narrated from the perspective of a wife heartbroken by her husband spending a lot of time with the other woman.

Going through emotions of jealousy, longing, emotional conflict, and the complicated psychology of love, betrayal, and self-awareness.

The poem is voiced by a wife who is awake late at night (around 11 PM), wondering where her husband is. She asserts that he is with the other woman, lying in an intoxicated, intimate state. This thought leaves her confused, hurt, and questioning whether he has forgotten her.

The physical closeness between the husband and the other woman- how husband is holding her, embracing her, grabbing her quick and hard even at a slightest slip.

She entered unassumingly and has reached all the way to the bedroom.

Wife continues- I like her too but I can't let her take my place.

She wrestles with how to respond- should she punish, cut off, leave, or drive him/her away or throw her away? Yet she cannot settle on a decision.

In the end, the tone shifts slightly- rather than reacting with anger or despair, she expresses a complex mix of challenge and resignation. She invites her husband to let him play his finger tricks on her (the wife) instead and that she is game to play with him till dawn as much as the other woman could.

. . .

Here is the twist-

The other woman that the wife talks about is husband’s laptop.