If you peel me back

layer by layer

to get to the core of me

And by that I mean pierce brown 

skin, scraping at dark seeds 

of my doubts and fears

If you bore through my flesh

wounds, sunbursts of broken capillaries 

all blurry purple and streaky green

to get to the root of me 

you might chip pale blue paint 

from mosque walls

or smear rusty sindoor on parted hair 

you might unfold flags 

with stripes and stars of

orange and green or red white and blue and

If you pare me down 

to get to the depths of me 

you might drown in shimmering gray

your heart melting into foamy Pacific

your toes disappearing into Chowpatty sand

If you cut along my edges

to get to the soul of me

you will find only more layers and

more seams pushing against your tears and

more colors blending and bleeding

swirling and seeping

into the whole of me