The Dust Never Settles Down — A Poem by Saba Zahoor

October 10, 2021

Saba-Zahoor-Mental-Health-Day-Poetry-Feature

Photo by Raymond Depardon, a French photographer, photojournalist and documentary filmmaker. Taking on a subject many have tried to capture with a lens, photographer Raymond Depardon‘s asylum photo series is haunting and riveting. Shot all in black and white, the "Manicomi" series portrays a look inside the secretive "insane asylums" of Italy before they were shut down.

On World Mental Health Day, Saba Zahoor presents a series of verses that venture into the center of struggles and experiences that remain difficult to communicate yet persist in the lives of millions throughout our human world.

The Dust Never Settles Down

I.
I don’t know what I’m suffering from.
What is the cure?

II.
Depression is a coil. A downward spiral.
Grief is a point. A point of singularity.
Melancholia is a ditch. A rabbit’s hole.
Agony is a bubble. A hyperbole.
Sadness is tidal. That’s life.
Torment is unseen. Reserved for the afterlife.

III.
The steeds all galloped away
the day he died.
Untrodden since the path remains, yet
the dust still refuses to settle down.

She sits by her window, not waiting
for anyone to return home.
Still gripped by their departure, she
waits for the dust to settle down.

“I’ve suffered much,” cried the old man.
“Will the dust ever settle down?”

To the dying man, the Hakim[1] apologized
“I’m afraid the angst shall outlive you.
It’s the dust. The dust never settles down.”

[1] Hakeem (from arabic حكمة or hikmat meaning wisdom)
n.
1. A physician, especially one who practices traditional medicine, in a predominantly Muslim culture.
2. Wise, learned.

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About the Contributor

Saba Zahoor

Saba Zahoor was born and raised in Srinagar, Kashmir. She is a civil engineer by profession and an alumna of NIT, Srinagar. In a conflict zone, nobody can escape self expression. It is there even in their silence. She does not call herself a poet; poetry is just her way around writing daily. In her free time, she spends a considerable amount of time on books of any genre, especially those on dystopia, existentialism and absurdism. She is a science enthusiast, and passionate about astronomy, archeology, history and psychology.