Vilomah

Sour Candy sinew
Orange tasting blood
In his soil of sadness he
Has grown an incense bud

He burns like incense
Spreads like incense
Incense is his form.
His mighty topless tower
Has toppled down in a storm

Twisted in his back, the talons
Of his nights of cold,
And a grief he cannot hold!
Rusting from the oxygen
What once was lustered Gold.
He’s the silent note between-
Two keys of a harpsichord.
Which only carried tunes of blues
(But music still it stored)

I take my chance
I do my dance
I dance to make him glad
But nothing do I add.
Nothing I can color right
Or write in his notepad
I drive myself insane, to match
His madness, I go mad.

But nothing I can fix, my bad.
But nothing… do I add.

Figment of my fantasy,
Or symptom of his grief
It’s been a while
His wistful smiles
Are lost to disbelief

-Laiba Tahir

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Laiba Tahir, hailing from Peshawar, Pakistan, is a multi-talented individual. She is recognized as a writer, a stage actress, director, and a painter. Laiba pursued her education in English literature at Edwardes College. One of her notable works is the poem “Vilomah,” which delves into the profound grief experienced by a man who has lost a child.