Poetry: Onkar Sharma

Onkar Sharma

Hydronephrosis

Tortuous ureter begins to impede

Inflaming the inner edges

and narrowing the passage

towards the bladder.

Doctor suggests cystography 

along with stent implant

through the urethra, ooph!

Will it hurt my newborn, doc!? 

Have I read it correctly

that hydronephrosis 

gets cured on its own?

A desperate question in the sterile room

wriggles beneath a smirk.

***

Emptied and refilled

As if the agony inflicted by my melodies wasn’t enough,

I am pushed through the relentless pathological trauma 

for a series of ultrasounds, blood tests, and CT scans,

leaving my body frail like a strand straightened,

leaving my organs numbed like a ghost frightened.

Every prick in the shrivelled skin with those cringe bottles

hanging above my head from the intravenous pole 

seizes me on the hearse-like ventilator where medics 

are driving me as inane as the frost on a dried leaf

and fanatically lashing, flogging me like a tied thief.

As if the agony inflicted by my melodies wasn’t enough,

as if the tirades of the loved ones weren’t enough

I am now but a vessel, emptied and refilled, 

made of nothing but prescriptions, tests and waiting…

***

Labour ward

cries from the labour room before

cries from the labour room after

this is how a life enters this world

spreading smiles and giving hopes

a new meaning with wings of reality 

after cries from the labour ward

***

Fazed eyes

Etherized upon the gurney, 

in the damp, cold corridor, 

my eyes couldn't look away from the fazed eyes 

of a patient being wheeled into the Operation Theatre.

***

Gate Pass

I couldn’t resist a smile for the guard, 

handing over the gate pass like a key to a new world. 

Each slow step toward the car felt like a small victory.

Even under the hospital's porch, the smell of antiseptic clung to me, 

and the metallic hum of distant machines still thrummed in my ears. 

But with every breath of fresh air, I was finally making a comeback  

to a world that had felt a million miles away before the surgery.

***

Bio: A writer and poet, Onkar Sharma is the author of the poetry collection Songs of Suicide and the novel Revenge Theory. He founded Literary Yard, a platform to support emerging writers and celebrate diverse voices. Sharma is also an editor, book reviewer, and columnist, actively contributing to literary discussions and fostering creativity within the community. He runs an online literary journal LiteraryYard.com.

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Setu, October 2025