Poetry: Manju Viswabharathi

Dr. Manju Viswabharathi

Birth by C-Section: A Memoir

 

Inside the dim theatre, the night sky burns.

Unfamiliar voices hover around the table

Contemplating the fine art

Of incision.

Now I see an archipelago

Spread on the ceiling which I call the sea.

It transforms now into a sky

Of blazing suns

 

I shut my eyes only to see the vigorous dance of‌ phosphenes.

My heart pounds; the woman in teal-green livery,

Murmurs first to me and then to the one next to her.

 

Her unintentional jargon is an alien tongue to me.

Yet I love her tone which, nevertheless,

Pacifies my ill-concealed turbulence;

 Tension mounts.

How one masters the language of tones in these moments,

A language lettered by subtle emotions.

 

Anaesthesia flows through my veins.

The lights of the archipelago fade;

A flock of ibises fly with me now.

Together, we fade

Beyond the dark horizon.

(How you ponder upon the obscure history

Of such moments beyond your consciousness later!)

 

Now, a medley of soft voices crane into my visage:

that’s how every dawn breaks

Though this’s no dawn.

The drip bottle is but an hour glass.

The woman in teal-green livery asks me

A gentle question to know if upon my ‘return’,

I knew myself. Numbness of stammering,

Remembrance, and utterance in a moment,

A reassuring smile follows.

 

Now a tiny voice pierces silence,

With its sweet shrillness

As if bursting every single bubble

Of that wrap around a cherished gift,

Delicate, fragile, unboxed right now.

***

 

Bio: A writer and artist from Kerala, Manju Viswabharathi portrays life in its variegated hues and shades through vivid imagery. Her poems have been published in various magazines, journals, and anthologies, which include Strings of Symphony, May Love Heal the World, Gage D’Amour, Mosaic of Poetic Musings: Contemporary Women Poets from India and Lilith. She has also contributed to anthologies of fiction such as Contemporary Global Fiction. Currently she works as an assistant professor at NSS Hindu College, Changanacherry in Kerala, India.

Postal address: Mangalath, SMRA-39, Perunna East, Changanacherry-686102, Kottayam, Kerala.

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Setu, October 2025