By Farah Siddiqui
The treacherous cancer cells
Invaded my brother’s tongue
They loved his voice
Everyone loves the voice
That sparkles
With laughter
With an energy
Of the birds singing
Their song at dawn
A voice
That reminds you
Like the waterfall
When you are
In the serenity of nature
That life is made of
Forward motion
The cancer cells
Also invaded his jaw
They loved his laughter
When it jingles
Like the bangles
Of a newly-wed bride
They loved the sound
Of his laughter
Like the firecrackers
On the Fourth of July
They tried to
Invade beauty with horror
But they got defeated
As I still see the smile
As bright as sun
Peeking
From the clouds of
The cancer cells
I still hear a laughter
From the tubes
That invaded his
Trachea.
Farah Siddiqui is currently an ABD in Literary Studies at The University of Texas at Dallas. She has an M.A. in Communications from Notre Dame of Maryland University. Broadly conceived, her doctoral work will explore the relation between affect and empathy in postmodern literature. She is more inclined towards the nature of subjectivity in light of the affective turn and how narrative empathy is an important aspect of literature. In her poetry, she explores the deep and intricate relation between nature and human life. She hopes to contribute to the current scholarship on narrative empathy and its benefits.