My Body is an Archive

Jk Mansi
Jk Mansi
Sep 8, 2018 · 2 min read

How she tells my story

The mind may mislead, the heart may mistrust, but the body does not lie. My Body is an Archive Text by and photo of JkM circa 2014, the year of the miracle.

my body is nothing to be sneezed at
it wouldn’t go far if you sneezed at it.

I have thought about this
from left to right
in Hindi and English
from right to left,
in Urdu and Arabic
I have thought about this
from top to bottom
in Chinese and Korean
and bottom to top in
languages I do not know yet
I have thought about this
inside out, I have thought
about it outside in
and i cannot figure out
what made you do it
other than your lust was
bigger than your heart
other than you forgot
all your medical training
other than you were reckless
with me, you were careless

you couldn’t care/less.

The 4th day after she was born
you forced a tear
the husband stitch broken
and left me all undone
for years to come.
My body is the silent witness
of what you have done to her.

You tore my episiotomy!

my body is the repository of my lived life.
my body is the library storing the volumes of my past.
my body is the archivist of my history.

what has your body done for you lately?

©JkMansi Juhi Kalra 2018. All rights reserved.

Thanks to Nicholas Petrone at Other Doors

From haiku to hefty memoirs - poems, stories and essays that break through the bullshit. Looking for pieces that go far beyond cliché to uncover a new realm of possibilities. Other Doors features writing that leaves the reader with genuine congenital reactions.

Thanks to Nicholas Petrone

Jk Mansi

Written by

Jk Mansi

Other Doors
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