Dr Bashabi Fraser is a poet and scholar, well known both in Scotland and India for her work on the Bengali poet and polymath Rabindranath Tagore, and for collections of poems that celebrate and compare the two countries which she calls home. Her new collection powerfully reflects on the last covid-dominated years. “Patient Dignity” is published by Scotland Street Press at £9.99 and is addressed “To the dedicated staff working on the frontline, risking their lives to save ours at NHS and in Care Homes.” The artist Vibha Pankaj complements the text with atmospheric landscapes.
WE WILL MEET AGAIN
We will meet again
But not because we parted
And crossed thirteen rivers
Or seven wide seas
But chose to stay cocooned
In meditative rooms
Waiting for our release.
We will meet again
Not because a hurricane
Has driven us indoors
And brought havoc in its trail
But as we seek to hide
From an unseen foe
That lurks in the streets outside.
We will meet again
When the receding green
Has been replenished
When saplings spout
With promise and the tide
Returns to sweep aside
Prejudice and doubt.
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