Amita Patel
 
Bhabi

(from Paper Road)

Stiff in my embrace,
I wanted to loosen you
as I do my braids at night,
to comb out the tangles
of wanting to be held
but having no practice.

We spoke quietly:
you alert and taut,
I willing your melting
in my warm arms,
aware of your desires,
aching for yielding.

I found it in your smile,
pouring pleasure
through a stiff body
of which only your head
snuggled slightly, briefly,
on my departing neck and cheek
(cheek!)

Embarrassed,
our eyes did not meet.

Notes:
Bhabi means ‘sister-in-law’ in several north Indian languages.

Amita Patel's booklet Paper Road has just been published by Survivors' Press (ISBN 978-1-874595-15-1), at £4+£1 p&p.