To Binodini

Binodini
I see you come alive
In your lover's
Graceful strokes.
In the hues of vibrant
And passion
With which he captured you.

I stare into your eyes
And I see an

Unfathomable deep brown.
Willingly gazing into
The lover's eyes, tirelessly,
Making sure that you are
Recreated to perfection
Eye lash by eye lash...

Binodini
I see you hiding playfully
Behind the Shillong pines
Cleverly seducing
The artist's brushes
To paint your dainty vulnerability
And immortalise it.

I see you stand

In stark nudity

Glorified in your lover’s devotion

As every curve and every sinew

He diligently examines

And recreates.

Binodini

Even from lifeless, frayed

Black and white frames

Your delicate flirtations

With the artist

Haunt me...

Maybe, in some previous life,

You soul was known to mine.

Painting by Ramkinkar Baij.

Maharaj Kumari Binodini Devi was born into the Manipuri royal family on 7 February 1922, the youngest of five daughters of Maharaja Sir Churachand Singh and Maharani Dhanamanjuri Devi. At the Vishwabharti University in Santiniketan, Bengal, she studied sculpture, and was the muse—some say lover—of the artist Ramkinkar Baij. Read more about her here:

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/arts-letters/the-princess-of-arts