like
her parents only wanted a boy to do all the fighting,
as tends to be the case
and he steps out of the fire sacrifice
fully dressed in battle gear,
white like hot fire and violently masculine
then suddenly from the ashy remains
here comes Draupadi so dark
reflectance never had a chance.
They say
she was invisible in the night
with eyes like lotus leaves
and hips to match.
Draupadi has always pissed me off.
See the way I figured when you are at the heart
of all the violent destiny
unfolding in your universe
you can do something more than letting it happen."
- from "Draupadi," by Janani Balasubramanian, Jaggery