Day-12
NaPoWriMo-2026
Prompt: Amarjit Chandan has a pretty wild biography, but his poetry is often focused on place and memory – with his hometown of Nakodar appearing repeatedly. His poem “Uncle Mohan Singh” recounts, with a sort of dreaminess, a memory of the titular uncle playing the accompaniment to a silent film. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write your own poem that recounts a memory of a beloved relative, and something they did that echoes through your thoughts today.
The whole village gathered
To pay their last respects
Was very much loved
By young and old
A tractor mechanic, he was
Much in demand
In the small mining hamlet
The monster
Took his life tumbling
Across a bridge with the
Blades in his chest in 1975.
He was 33, my Pandu mama.
I was his favourite niece.
I still miss the yummy
Pez, he used to make
Especially for me
With methi seeds and jaggery
During the summer vacation.
Mama- maternal uncle.
Pez- rice gruel
Methi-fenugreek seeds
Participating in: NaPoWriMo-2026
The monster
ReplyDeleteTook his life tumbling
Across a bridge with the
Blades in his chest in 1975.
This is harrowing!