# December Poems

- Link: https://writersworkshopindia.com/2015/07/19/december-poems/
- Published: 2015-07-19T19:12:19+00:00
- Author: admin

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**Author:** Ranu Uniyal
 **Pages:** 60 **Year of Publication:** 2012 **Price:** 
Rs 100 **ISBN:** 978-93-5045-028-4 (9789350450284)

_**About the Author**_
 Ranu Uniyal was educated in Lucknow, Jawaharlal Nehru University(
New Delhi) and Hull University (United Kingdom). She was awarded the Commonwealth
Scholarship for a Ph.D. in English. She is Professor of English at Lucknow University.
Her main research interests are Indian literature, women’s writing and postcolonial
literatures. Her research publications and reviews have appeared in journals like
_Commonwealth Review, South Asian Review, Journal of Gender Studies_ (Routledge)
and _Seminar_. Her poems have been featured in publications that include _Muse India,
Kavya Bharati, Manushi, Sketch Book_ (USA), _Northern Poetry Volume 2_ (UK) and 
_Femina_. She is Associate Editor of _The SPIEL Journal of English Studies_ (Lucknow).
Professor Uniyal co-edited _Women in Indian Writing from Difference to Diversity_(
Prestige Books, 2009) and has written four books including _Women and Landscape:
The Fiction of Margaret Drabble and Anita Desai_. (Creative Books, 2000). She is
one of the founding members of Pyssum, a charitable organization for children with
special needs in Lucknow. This is her second book of poetry.

_**Teaser**_

_Papa at eighty-two_

You speak only of death and God
 And are constantly reminded of grey men With dentures
that do not fit And throats that rattle Forever thirsty Stomachs with impatient 
creases And tongue sick with saliva The joints lean and fleshless scuffling The 
weight of your bones The only souvenir that you wish to keep Is your smile Staring
at my face I try not to get deceived by that earnest scowl.

How often does the living speak of the dead?
 How many times do the dead look at
the living? And marvel at their capacity for love?

No matter what we do or say
 There is a charm even if you Call yourself a spent 
force Each smile is met with a song And wherever there is scorn Coil your hands 
together as if It is necessary to evade the collapse.

You can read a review of the book [here](http://www.museindia.com/viewarticle.asp?issid=46&id=3763).

_**Contents**_
 43 poems