Bhaumik Kamdar
Mumbai, India

Every time I sneeze, I am distrusted
With every bout of cough, everyone is disgusted
I am subjected to exclusion, and otherization
Everything is nothing but societal authorization

Thanks to Mycobacterium that has invaded me
Society has secluded me
I am nothing but a name in the TB registry
Nothing but a government beneficiary

My sputum is a sanctorum for bacilli
I am but a symphony of rhonchi
With every proliferating bacillus
I am but a cocktail of proliferating pus

I am the canvas for isoniazid and rifampicin
A theatre for them to perform
A story for ethambutol waiting to be heard
A nightmare for liver, if they go berserk

My fibrotic lungs will testify
A struggle that no one can quantify
I am not just statistics
I am a life, and a soul

I may not live to document my tale
Maybe a record that is old and stale
But I am the embodiment of history
A scourge on society, a stain on propriety

I speak for the millions, the undocumented
I am the struggle, I am the ground zero
I am the bacilli, I am the scar, I am the cavity
I am nothing but a tale of grief and temerity