Gas - Less Days

 GAS - LESS  DAYS

Gas-less, distressed,  I gingerly stir a curry

 on the Induction c. , no less

 and I look out  at the verandah

Where Sachi sits smiling.

The flickering flames lick up as Sachi fondly tends

 the makeshift hearth and through the smoke, I see

Their   glow reflected on his beard

As Nostalgia takes  over

And he dreams.

Fond memories of home and his mother

who tended the firewood  hearth

while  helpfully he offered dried fronds and  sticks

and the thrill of even pouring out

a whole thosai on the griddle!

Now,  as our pot boils

He stirs the rice, kukul legs and heads

 All we have managed to get

For our canine friends today -

A far cry from the “Pet Food” loaves

Of  Yesterday.

SAKUNTALA SACHITHANANDAN     JULY 2022