by Yashasvi Vachhani

After Patricia Smith

Don’t shroud them, your thunder
thighs. Unsack & air your thunder

thighs. Hoist them up. Setubandh
to the sun—an offering, not a blunder

thighs. Release them. Rainbows
in an oil spill, formerly asunder

thighs. Peacock them. In the streets
wilderness of wonder

thighs. Tandav a revolution. Oh Yash!
Unshackle. Your thunder. Thighs.

*Setubandh is the Sanskrit name of the bridge pose.
*Tandav is Lord Shiva’s dance of fury.

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Yashasvi Vachhani is a curator and facilitator of children's programmes in Mumbai. Her poem was recently published in Of Dry Tongues and Brave Heart, an anthology for women's poetry. She loves, reading, writing and the colour yellow.