By Gieve Patel It is startling to see how swiftlyA man may be slicedFrom chin to prick,How easily the bonesHe has felt wholeUnder his chestFor a sixty, seventy yearsMay be snapped,With what calmLiver, lung and heartBe examined, the bowelsNoted for defect, the brainFor haemorrhage,And all these insidesThat have for a Read more…
By Dr.Gieve Patel There may be a very small comfortIn knowing yourself finallyUseless – when even grandchildrenHave grown beyond your love,And your would-be widowHas outhobbled you andWont be around to break withOne or two of her last thick tears,And not caring much forYour fellowmen, the doctorsWont get your body –To Read more…
By Dr. Gieve Patel The Saurashtra Express waits to startChained patiently to the platform,Good pet, while I clamber inTo take my reserved window seatAnd settle into the half-empty compartment’sCool; the odour of human manureVague and sharp drifts inFrom adjoining platforms.The station’s population of porters,Stall-keepers, toughs and vagabonds relieve themselvesTicketless, into Read more…
By Dr. Gieve Patel Text Book A case in point, the expert says;A woman thrust glowing faggotsWhere properlyHer son’s sparrow should nest.Puerile in-law practice, he says,But good as any otherTo set the story rolling; beginWith a burn in the sparrow’s nestTo extend over all therefrom emergingFan and flourish of the Read more…
By Gieve Patel Our English host was graciousWe were soon at ease;Or almost:The servantswere watching. © 1966, Gieve PatelFrom: PoemsPublisher: Nissim Ezekiel, Mumbai, 1966