Sandeep Bhatnagar

I work as a chief officer in the merchant navy and first visited Aberdeen on an assignment. As a child, I spent three years in Glasgow and lived in a place called Bearsden. I hope to tour the whole of Scotland at some point.

Poems

THE LAST NIGHT

That night I read
the Ramayan:
how even Lord Ram
had moments of doubt,
of despair.
I felt it auspicious
to read such books

before I slept,
for then no harm
could befall us.

And yet the morning
came.

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THE PYRE

After you have piled
logs into neat rows
over the shroud
and sprinkled ghee
in the cardinal directions,

you light an oil-soaked
torch
and watch
your past-present-future

reflected in the crackling
flames.

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SHRADH

The 13th day and 13
chappatis need to be fed
to the deserving.

3 cows, white & black,
snub-nosed and carefree,
lick the rotis off
our hands.

An elephant crocks his
trunk
and awaits
the next round: he smiles
and, for a moment, so
does my father.

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OM SHANTI

How can I recite the
sacred mantra
to bring peace to your soul,

when you are not
there
to guide me?

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TIME

I thought time
would stop
but your watch
continues to run.

Maybe it is reassured
by your purple
bangles lying

nearby.

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