How rarely all these few years, as work keeps us aloof,
Or fares, or one thing or another,
Have we had days to spend under our parents' roof:
Myself my sister, and my brother.
All five of us will die; to reckon from the past
This flesh and blood is unforgiving.
What's hard is that just one of us will be the last
To bear it all and go on living.
you are my one of all time favorite poet just because of the poems like this.in all of your poems, a rhyme scheme is there which is so soothing as a reader
No self-gratification in finding out who will sustain the flesh the last, but departure is sad just the same!
To bear it all and go on living. Congratulation Vikram Seth . I like it very much. Yours Gajanan Mishra
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Well written but oh how sad the topic. I have thought of dying as it is a fact of life- I just never looked at it as the last breath of our family of four- mother, father, brother, and sister. I find you a challenging and worthwhile poet, Vikram Seth.