Passion…unbridled

Children look up to their parents

Mothers and fathers strength epitomize

But my parents were new immigrants

Always meek, afraid- it took me long to realize

How strong they were- forced to seek asylum

In a country where they knew neither language nor custom

They tried to earn a living honest

Stretched thin, they did strive to give their children the best

**

When I was young, I did not understand

Their obsequiousness, apologies constant

I was angry whenever I saw them not take a stand

Against insults and injustice, they remained silent

I knew the language, was learning in school

Principles of equality, liberty etc.- but I was a fool

Equal before law does not necessarily mean

Equal in society-we lived at the fringes, largely unseen

My parents worked quietly, in the background

Noticed only when they made a mistake

They would rectify their errors without making a sound

As if indifferent to insults, after all money was at stake

**

Ah, money is what makes the world revolve

Our lives revolved around it too

My parents worked with a steely resolve

To put food on the table, any honest work they would do

Workers’ rights, benefits, equality of pay

Did not concern them in any way

Their docility often caused me aggravation

Much later I understood their situation..

**

Language was a barrier hard to break

They learnt English, but spoke with a painful accent

Also a very long time it does take

To learn language that cultural nuances represents

Those insults, the blows to their self-respect that I perceived

They were partly shielded from, they were able to quietly receive

Because the language used they did not understand

It helped them survive in a foreign land..

**

I have seen their confidence grow

With every milestone attained

They look you in the eye, their eyes glow

Their initial fear has now waned

I have, as their daughter, found

A respect for their early tribulations profound

Their strength did lie in their being meek

Their actions spoke when in words they could not speak..

Is there a foolproof method, she asks in a low voice

After I go through every available choice

I shake my head, birth control methods work when they do

But they can, and do, fail too

No pill, no device, no depot shots can be

Used with 100% guarantee

**

I look at her, her eyes show desperation

I see the baby in the stroller, and the situation

Is now clear to me- I know she is eighteen years old

With an infant- I see the unmistakable epicanthic fold

She had a baby too young, with anomalies congenital

She does not want another, afraid of the cost, mental and financial

Of bringing another baby into her world, with support none

We are in Texas, so an abortion is out of the question

If she gets pregnant, even if the child has congenital issues

She would have to give birth- imagining the plight of someone in her shoes

I shudder, then proceed to repeat the options

For birth control- I suggest use of a combination…

**

The vicious law passed by clueless men

Has taken choice over their bodies away from women

I cannot change the law, but with birth control education attempts I can make

To give her some control of her body, for every woman’s sake

Research as I understand, is supposed to be

A process of painstaking complexity

Performed by diligent people who have studied

Extensively on a topic- now waters have been muddied-

In this pandemic, suddenly everyone has become

A master of research, it’s no longer a domain for some

All view-points should equally valid be

An expert’s opinion should hold the same weight as one from you or me

Searching within the complex algorithms of sites online

For “facts” to validate one’s beliefs is just fine-

To pass off as research, used to argue and debate

With health care professionals, or vehemently state

One’s point of view in posts with polarizing content

That is not research, for any purpose or intent

A major disservice this is to all those working incessantly

In research on the pandemic, the virus, vaccines- to free

The world from the pandemic- why would their end-goal be different

They use science, not social media “research”, to justify their intent…

(Image source: http://www.patheos.com)

Agonizing, each moment

Going through the day, a torment

Unfocused, unmoored in an anxious wait

In a turmoil, trying to project a calm state

Eyes wide open, but blunted sight

Ears that hear, but listen, not quite

A plastic smile, trying to hide

The tsunami raging inside

Destiny hanging in balance delicate

Test results with power to upturn fate

Benign or malignant, the odds are even here

It could be worse than imagined- is the constant fear

The phone rings, her heart stops for a second, it seems

As she braces herself to face the demise of her dreams..

So many things in the world appear

Incomprehensible to me, I fear

The many unknowns that surround me

Nebulous problems whose solutions I cannot see

To keep my sanity, to try to bring some measure

Of order in my world, to bring amid chaos, pleasure

I flex my creative muscle, albeit weak

Some form of creative expression I then seek

Be it writing, art, creating a dish new

Or adorning myself- I try to do

Something that breaks the monotony

Of a fixed routine, makes me think differently

I give my limited imagination free rein

To harness creativity, slowly I regain

My outlook positive- I know this for certain

Endorphins thus released drive away my pain…

**

My creative muscle gets stronger with use

And quickly develops atrophy from disuse

Thus I try to carve out time to germinate

An idea new-and find my happy state..

The devil himself must have designed our destiny

We can’t find a reason why else it would be

That not just once but repeatedly we find

While the world makes progress, we get left behind

Barely from the middle ages we had emerged

Now a new tsunami has left us submerged

In the abyss of a bloody ocean

Without any warning, without premonition

We are mere puppets in invisible hands

Decisions made by important folks in distant lands

Turn our lives backwards in the blink of an eye

Here we are, before being able to comprehend why,

Back to living under the shadow of fear

Back to shedding silent faceless tears

Suddenly we find ourselves struggling to comply

With archaic rules, we scramble to buy

Burqas- those head to toe coverings designed

To subjugate our souls, our bodies and minds

Forget about any aspirations we might hold dear

It is for our lives and safety that we fear..

**

Why have our stoic Afghani women

To suffer repeated violence been chosen?

We hope against hope there is some justice reserved

For us-for our aggressors to get what they deserve

(Image source- quotesgram.com)

We don’t practice paternalistic medicine

Shared decision-making is what we believe in

We go over options, the patient and the physician

Weigh pros and cons, personal preferences and come to a decision

We may recommend strongly, but pushy we are not…

This is something that’s lately weighing on my mind a lot-

Most patients are willing to take medications as prescribed

As long as trust in our competence is not compromised

Yet in the face of a pandemic, it seems we are less effective

In motivating patients to get a vaccine that can give

Them immunity from serious illness and death

We plead with naysayers, thinking of those struggling for their breaths

Yet outright rejection, indignation, even anger we face

When we bring up vaccination, as if we’ve said something out of place…

It is disheartening that in the same encounter,

Acceptable are recommendations all other

The echo chamber of anti-vaccinators has a powerful voice

A million scientific arguments cannot sway their choice

Any further attempts are viewed as paternalism

And that, it seems, further widens the schism…

**

I feel demoralized and defeated yet I try once again

To advocate for the vaccine, maybe this effort would not go in vain

I think of those suffering, and my efforts are redoubled

That’s the only step I can take in these times troubled..

Filtered, airbrushed in pictures, botoxed in real life

Flawless, perfect, unblemished face

The right skin tone, gloriously sun-kissed

Not a strand of hair out of place

Perfectly pouting in a lovely location

(COVID cannot ruin photoshoots after all)

Masterful editing used to convert

Into a majestic cascade a local waterfall

Half a million subscribers need content new

To live their fantasies vicariously

More views mean more endorsements too

Balanced on these numbers precariously

Sits her career as a social media influencer, therefore

She hashtags “no filter”- the market for authenticity is high

She brushes aside the intermittent twinges of guilt

And proceeds to post to social media her clever lie..

For millennia I think we thrived

In harmony with nature, we survived

Natural disasters, war and famine

Finally created the Anthropocene

Somehow somewhere along the way

The erroneous notion came into play

That the earth and all its non-human creatures

Were created for our benefit, its myriad geographic features

Were for us to exploit, first for our needs

Then for our comfort and finally for our greed

We came to believe, for lack of opposition from other life forms

That we were superior, the rest of the world had to conform

To our clever ideas, of which of course we had no dearth

We were the undisputed emperors of the kingdom of earth..

**

The laws of nature dictate that every action

Should have an equal and opposite reaction

We’ve exploited the earth to an extent immense

We can see signs of the consequence-

In pandemics, flash floods, forest fires and more

We’ve angered the Earth down to its core

Not that the clock can be reversed completely

But a more sustainable way of living is possible definitely

We are getting wake-up calls we should heed

To re-evaluate our balance with nature is what we need

To learn about your people, history you should read

This is what I had heard all along indeed

Diligently I read all textbooks in history assigned

That the content could be anything but gospel truth never crossed my mind

*

I must say I’m embarrassed to state

That after all these years, of late

I’ve begun to question, begun to doubt

The veracity of everything I’d read throughout..

*

Those who wield the pen of historic strokes belong

To the group in power, the group that is strong

The victor’s point of view is reflected in history that’s written

The voice of the oppressed remains from the world hidden..

*

My people were colonized, therefore

Once I realized this I could not be sure

Whether the history I read was an accurate representation

Of events as they happened, or was there some fabrication?

*

Yes, many of my ancestors recorded their history too

I try to read their work but it’s true

That in regional languages I cannot read

I read translations in the colonizer’s language indeed!

*

Though we live in a post-colonial era, we are

Steeped in a colonial mindset so far

It is time to cast off the myth of colonial supremacy

Our authentic history with a fresh perspective see

*

Let me learn history the right way

The powerful and the rich have always had a say

Let me now find stories of those who were colonized…

Bring forth the voices of those who went unrecognized

Too many hurting, too many in pain

Too many being challenged with staying sane

Crises unfolding in divergent ways

COVID wave on the home front, delta rampant these days

Political decisions, fanatic fundamentalism

Converging to pose threats to humanism

Countless women and children victims of violence

In Afghanistan, where unfolds a humanitarian crisis intense..

Natural disasters are unfortunately not far behind

Haiti’s new earthquake brings 2010 to the mind

Reeling from this catastrophe new

On the background of prior damage too..

The world in shambles, its denizens hurting now

I fervently pray for the Powers above to allow

Basic tenets of humanity and common sense to return

Such that we extend help where needed, vaccinate everyone…

**

Too many ills, too much suffering than can be

Avoided if the greater good of people we can see…

We thought since we had been given the privilege

Of making a difference to the lives

Of people ill, suffering, in pain

Since we could sometimes help the fortunate ones survive…

That we would have endless patience and empathy

For those suffering, our raison d’etre is to heal

Our profession and passion are aligned towards one goal

To alleviate suffering, we would always work with zeal..

*

The pandemic arrived to put to test

Our skills, our empathy, our resilience

Fearful for our families and ourselves too

We worked in the face of stress immense

Our hearts broke seeing patients struggle to breathe

People dying all alone- it was hard to witness

We climbed on a learning curve steep

We held on to hope while feeling helpless..

Hope that science would come to our defense

The unwavering belief that soon we would

Have vaccines effective, scientists were hard at work

With vaccines in hand, defeat the virus we would..

*

Our belief in science was upheld- in less than a year

Vaccines highly effective were on the horizon

We felt hopeful, as we battled politics and disease

That over the virus victory we had won

Believing in science, most of us did not

Think twice about getting the precious shot

We stood behind science, behind vaccination

This was the only way the virus could be fought

*

We knew the virus would mutate

We knew we had to mitigate

Its spread- we knew it was essential to vaccinate

A large percentage of the population- now it is too late…

We are back to square one, but this wave

Was preventable, if only people would get the vaccine

We are angry, exhausted, disheartened now

We hoped this would not happen, but it was not unforeseen

*

Pray that we retain empathy when we try to treat

Unvaccinated patients with therapies “experimental” too

Pray that our resilience is not challenged

Past the breaking point- we have a lot more to do…