(August 2022)

She looked in the mirror.
There was a crack across her reflection.
The mirror was fine.
It was she who was broken.
She even forgot how to smile.

The muscles in her face didn’t remember the pattern.
Her fingers tried to hold her cheek upwards.
To imitate a smile.
Even that didn’t work.
She failed to celebrate her recent release.

She was not even old enough to understand.
How she was first brought to this market.
Her food was drugged.
Train deliberately missed.
The betrayer was her teacher on the school trip.

There were other girls there—similarly tricked.
But she was displayed as the show stopper.
The auction started.
Men yelled numbers.
She “won” the highest price that night.

Her mouth was taped and hands were tied.
The package was ready for trafficking.
She was stripped.
Her purity was stolen in transit.
The animal couldn’t even wait to arrive at the destination.

Her new “home” was dark like her future.
She served him and his buddies for months at least.
They would come to the basement.
Play with the new toy.
And return back to their image.

When he got bored, he traded her.
This market is unaffected by the economy.
Sold again.
Bought again.
Every new owner guaranteed the same old fate.

If you call this living, she lived in six different countries.
But darkness looks the same everywhere.
Owners may have sounded different.
Their needs were the same though.
This consumption continued till her expiry date.

Now discarded, she asks herself what her worth is?
The journey from person to product reduced her.
It may take several lifetimes to heal.
Get over her trauma.
And look into a mirror and remember how to smile again.