POETRY AGAINST SMOKING
Some months ago Dr. Md. Tauheed Ahmad sent me an e-mail asking me to send him some of my poems for him to read. He had just read Teresinka Pereira's interview with me on MOON LIGHT OF COREA International Literary Art Magazine, published and edited by poet Baek, Han-Yi (e-mail: hangchon@hanafos.com ). On that occasion he also sent me a pdf file with his poems, entitled POETRY TO COMBAT TOBACCO (2009), a collection of 14 poems against tobacco and smoking. I got to read these beautiful poems some days ago and immediately understood their importance. POETRY TO COMBAT TOBACCO has an introduction by Dr. Jack Coulehan* , MD, MPH, and sketches by Mr. Izharul Haq and the author himself.
Following are some of the mentioned poems:
THROAT
THROUGH A bore
In my wind-pipe
My lungs are filled.
Friends find time
They come nose-wrapped
To overcome the stink
Or may be they are ashamed
Having introduced me to Smoke
And themselves later-on quit.
We four were the company
Through the idyllic years
When there wasn't any moment for thought
And there weren't any fears.
I knew the harms -
They raised my arms!
All reveled in ash and smoke.
My throat lay today
Amongst the pathologist's stuff.
Didn't I have my voice
When offered the first puff?
FREE TO CHOOSE
THEY PROBED his failing strength
And endurance
And unearthed smoke.
Put on regime
He only made promises
Perhaps he was not the mould.
The coach got measured
His cotinine levels.
Now, he is damned to sit out
And he is free to choose!
TEARS ARE COSTLY
YEARS BACK when she held
My finger on lazy walks
It meant all universal
Protection to her.
Now, as her grown hands
Sandwiched my frame
We thought of those old
And secure times.
We wept and smiled
And smiled and wept
We hugged and kissed
And wept and wept.
Though doctors had
Declared my fate
It seemed I had got
A permanent solace.
Still, her tears seemed
To be accusing me.
Craving, bereavement
And that guilt-feeling.
For tears there is a time
Ages back I was told
And my priorities now
Were imbibing salt.
The last conscious-bye
Under artificial lights
Adds to my tragedy
Cosmic heights.
Tenses conclude
A sorry note
Tears are costly
And so is Smoke.
A short bio note:
Md. Tauheed Ahmad is a physician specializing in community medicine and epidemiology. His first collection of poems The Timeless Epitaph and other new poems was published in 2006. He is the founder-President of Healthwize, which is involved especially in the areas of tobacco-control and other aspects of chronic diseases control. He is a Fellow of International Union Against Cancer (UICC).
Some months ago Dr. Md. Tauheed Ahmad sent me an e-mail asking me to send him some of my poems for him to read. He had just read Teresinka Pereira's interview with me on MOON LIGHT OF COREA International Literary Art Magazine, published and edited by poet Baek, Han-Yi (e-mail: hangchon@hanafos.com ). On that occasion he also sent me a pdf file with his poems, entitled POETRY TO COMBAT TOBACCO (2009), a collection of 14 poems against tobacco and smoking. I got to read these beautiful poems some days ago and immediately understood their importance. POETRY TO COMBAT TOBACCO has an introduction by Dr. Jack Coulehan* , MD, MPH, and sketches by Mr. Izharul Haq and the author himself.
Following are some of the mentioned poems:
THROAT
THROUGH A bore
In my wind-pipe
My lungs are filled.
Friends find time
They come nose-wrapped
To overcome the stink
Or may be they are ashamed
Having introduced me to Smoke
And themselves later-on quit.
We four were the company
Through the idyllic years
When there wasn't any moment for thought
And there weren't any fears.
I knew the harms -
They raised my arms!
All reveled in ash and smoke.
My throat lay today
Amongst the pathologist's stuff.
Didn't I have my voice
When offered the first puff?
FREE TO CHOOSE
THEY PROBED his failing strength
And endurance
And unearthed smoke.
Put on regime
He only made promises
Perhaps he was not the mould.
The coach got measured
His cotinine levels.
Now, he is damned to sit out
And he is free to choose!
TEARS ARE COSTLY
YEARS BACK when she held
My finger on lazy walks
It meant all universal
Protection to her.
Now, as her grown hands
Sandwiched my frame
We thought of those old
And secure times.
We wept and smiled
And smiled and wept
We hugged and kissed
And wept and wept.
Though doctors had
Declared my fate
It seemed I had got
A permanent solace.
Still, her tears seemed
To be accusing me.
Craving, bereavement
And that guilt-feeling.
For tears there is a time
Ages back I was told
And my priorities now
Were imbibing salt.
The last conscious-bye
Under artificial lights
Adds to my tragedy
Cosmic heights.
Tenses conclude
A sorry note
Tears are costly
And so is Smoke.
A short bio note:
Md. Tauheed Ahmad is a physician specializing in community medicine and epidemiology. His first collection of poems The Timeless Epitaph and other new poems was published in 2006. He is the founder-President of Healthwize, which is involved especially in the areas of tobacco-control and other aspects of chronic diseases control. He is a Fellow of International Union Against Cancer (UICC).
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