Consumption Poem by Shahzada Imtiaz Ali

Lives drift apart from their very souls,
Women walk, children laugh and play.
But whom shall I run and tell today?
Leukemia lives, quietly digging holes.

Consumption? Who would deny?
The scene falls like drizzle from a child's eye,
And the moon fades into silent air,
Death's fear hovers — who would dare defy?

A courage once firm now soft as velour,
Youthful charms, and childhood lore —
Can we escape what eats within?
My labor groans, a struggling roar.

Hope and agony, caution and dread —
All our differences now lie dead.
Life or death — which wounds us more?
Is it TB? Or fate's own war?

Can beauty be loved when fear remains?
Grass bows down, and flowers wane.
Melancholy kills the light of dawn,
Even healing tears come with pain.

A virgin girl, a man, and a neighbor near —
I long to travel, from place to place,
To cleanse the land and help it bloom,
To heal this world, with humble grace.

Shahzada Imtiaz Ali
23-06-2025