I Love Me

Menaka Raman

23, Shanthi Colony
is Rubina’s new home.
As soon as she unpacks her things,
she rushes off to roam.

Rubina misses her old friends— Nina, Raj and Som.
But now there will be new ones, whom she can call her own.

“Hi, my name’s Rubina.
Will you play with me?
I do love all sorts of games,
and can even climb a tree.”

The girl looks at Rubina,
then points with a shrill shriek,
“What is that on your forehead,
that big and hairy streak?”

Rubina loves her eyebrows,
what’s the fuss about?
They’re perfect for hiding caterpillars in,
when she’s going out.

Rubina shrugs her shoulders,
some friends she can call her own, friends who will be kind.
she dances off to find

“Hi, my name’s Rubina.
Can I play with you?
I’m good at bowling googlies,
and at fielding, too.”

The captain of the cricket team,
a boy who’s very tall, says,
“You have one, two, three, FOUR eyes.
Which one will see the ball?”

Rubina loves her round glasses.
They remove the fuzz and blur.
They help her thread Nani’s needles
and find fleas in Rani’s fur.

Rubina shrugs her shoulders,
she tumbles on to find
some friends she can call her own,
friends who will be kind.

“Hi, my name’s Rubina.
Can I play with you?
We can take turns swinging,
and see who outswings who.”

The girls look Rubina up and down.
They whisper, giggle and laugh.
“We don’t want to play with you.
You are as tall as a giraffe.”

Rubina loves her nimble legs.
Yes, they’re very long.
But they help rescue cats and kites
that get stuck in trees or thorns.

Rubina’s smile droops a bit,
her eyes not quite so bright.
She misses Nina, Raj and Som.
They’d cheer her up all right.

Rubina shrugs her shoulders,
and decides to play alone.
A game that she has made up,
where she’s the king upon a throne.
“Hi, my name is Alex.
Can I play with you?
I like to read and write and draw.
What do you like to do?”