O Dejection! O Agony! Poem by Shahzada Imtiaz Ali

O Dejection! thou silent weight upon my chest,
I rose to speak, adorned and bold — the best.
Yet came back with nothing but aching bones,
From stages lit to quiet, hollow zones.
I asked the wanderers, "What guides your quest? "
They answered soft: "You hold what you invest."

I met the wise, aboard a ship so wide,
Sought truth in gardens where no truth would hide.
But only crickets sang the dusk in grief,
The moon I grasped, but found no relief.
The sun — so bright — gave neither path nor glow,
Its warmth was blank; I fell too low.

I searched the world with sleepless eyes,
My youth turned silver under distant skies.
From desert dust to frozen crest,
I passed each trial, each sacred test.
And when all hope began to break,
It was Agony I chose to take.

O Agony! Thou art no foe but flame,
You dwell in shadows, yet wear no shame.
My loyal friend, through splash and crash,
You flicker deep, through storms and ash.
So stay with me, till stars collapse,
I pledge to hold you — no relapse.

Yet something flickers far, unseen —
A single star, a golden dream.
O Hope! Thou breath beneath the storm,
Thou art my light, my truest form.
Though life may bruise and burdens grope,
I live, I burn — in faith and hope.

And Thou, my Allah, Ever Near —
The One to whom I raise each tear.
Bestow on me Thy mercy's sweep,
A garden vast, eternal sleep.
Let Eden bloom where sorrows stop —
And Heaven's grace become my crop.

Dr. Shahzada Imtiaz Ali
23-06-2025