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.