Catch-22 Poem by Rajiv Khandelwal

After the Chief of Surgery's diagnosis
He was elated to know
His 95 year old mother
Could be saved
From the life-consuming disease
But the now-or-never operation
Would cost his entire nest eggs
That he had so painstakingly
Set aside
For his daughter's wedding
Who had just turned thirty eight
And whose prospects in the marriage market
Were getting grim by the day

His heart was in a fix

Save a person with a few years to go
Or the one
Who had a full life ahead

Momentarily
He was bedeviled by raging storms

The ‘Custom of Sea'
Looped in his mind

He prayed to God
And sought forgiveness


Published in WEC Volume 12  Number 1  March 2022