My Body is an Archive
How she tells my story

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

