Kavita’s poem is a heartfelt reflection on knees—strength, memories, and struggles—woven through life’s moments, from love to resilience, for Different Truths.

Feat of will, avoiding surgery on right knee
Remembering the ring he gave on bended knee

Running school hundred-meter relays with strong knees
Passing baton, strategic positioning of hands and knees

Learning to ride a bicycle, peddling with both knees
Father holding tightly yet scraping my young knees

Mother on stone steps, dress below the knees
Applying red mercurochrome to colour my bruised knees

Climbing uphill to campus home with easy knees
Steps kitchen to the living room, trouble with knees

Never did I think so much about knees
Hair, face, eyes, clothes, boys, but never knees.

(From my ongoing collection of poems “In a Lighter Vein”)

Picture design by Anumita Roy

Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca

In a career spanning over four decades, Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca has taught English in Indian colleges, AP English in an International School in India, and French and Spanish in private schools in Canada. Her poems are featured in various journals and anthologies, including the Journal of Indian Literature published by the Sahitya Akademi and the Yearbook of Indian Poetry in English. Kavita has authored two collections of poetry.

See Full Bio