ek haath se...

They say you can't clap with one hand
 every time a man rounds up his friends
 to take a late night walk
 on neon lit streets.
The music from the club whispers
out through doors
opened for a fraction
of a second.
The men peek; one raises his eyesbrows, the other
laughs and  shakes his head disarmingly.
The third has dimples and the smile of a boy stealing
candy from his mother's bedside table.
The doors open again, vomitting out a
booze drenched lady, her eyes on the map
of her phone screen, her car a dangerous twenty minutes away.
She's wearing the dress her best friend picked out
On the day she got her first job.
It made her stand taller and smile brighter.
Her calves are taut and more importantly, naked.

Is there any other ending to this story?

You can't clap with one hand, yes.
But you can slap with one.

After all, claps are appreciative and celebratory.
Clapping is a solo performance.
You slap somebody else.
It is not invited.
It is not wanted.


No one asks to be raped.