At Leaving Poem by Subir Ningthouja

The 42 year old woman,
gasping every painful breath
with her emaciated frame
coaxing her MDR -TB moth eaten lungs
for every labored breath
The husband dumbly rubbing her back
and I forcing his face mask back on
while pumping some deriphyllin into tired veins
coaxing the oxygen valve
that was behaving a king
in a pauper 's land
I, looking into her eyes
glazing with the memories
of the fields and children,
that rare fish curry
followed by his loving lips...
Till I closed those eyes
with my indifferent fingers
for the next moth eaten lungs.