Fire, Faith & Glory
Le Feu, La Foi et La Gloire
by
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Wasted Time How will I ever Undo wasted time That one Sunday I promised to Bring you out To the park But I couldn’t bring myself to Cause I was too tired working To pay off all your hospital bills Sitting in my room waiting Just like you were by my side For an answer I didn’t have I can still remember The sadness in your eyes When I said I’m sorry son Daddy has to work today I can still remember You walking away Hiding your tears Quietly sitting down By yourself playing With the old car Your mum bought for you When she was still around Then the phone call came One Sunday morning Your Sunday school teacher Said you’d met with an accident The paramedics said they tried But enough was not enough For a grieving father Who’d lost more than a child I sat on the park bench Your favourite one And I reached out But you weren’t there All I felt was an empty silence That kept me company And all I had left were regrets Of wasted time I could have spent Loving you more during your time In this world.
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About the Book
Fire, Faith & Glory commemorates my second year in pediatric residency in KK Women’s & Children’s Hospital. It is an anthology of poems that brings you, the readers, through an emotional trajectory through my various postings across neonatology, high dependency, and the children’s intensive care unit. A sequel to Do They Have Telephones Up in Heaven? this collection pays tribute to the children whom we have lost, children who have recovered well, and children who are still fighting for their lives. This collection also remembers parents and their daily struggles through difficult times. I hope you will all find a poem in here that brings you comfort and heals any open wounds from past experiences. We all have a story to share, and I am thankful to all the patients and their families who have inspired me to write these poems, each with their own little histories. As the title suggests, this anthology is fiercer and more intense and features poems that will make one reflect, persevere, and strive toward a better tomorrow, which we are all working together for. I hope you will remember, as I always do, that you only get a beautiful rainbow after a heavy rainstorm. And no matter how heavy, it will come to an end one day and the sun will shine again—brighter than ever before.
About the Author
Currently a 3rd year paediatric resident at KK Women’s & Children’s Hospital, R R Pravin is an avid writer. A recipient of the Prime Minister’s Book Prize & the youngest recipient of the outstanding contributions to literature by the National Tamil Thiruvalluvar Awards in 2009 after the release of his début novel African Girl in 2008, Pravin has continued to receive international nominations as a finalist in the United States and International Best Book Awards for his collections of short stories, novels and poems through the years across a spectrum of genres. He is also passionate about paediatric palliative care and complex care – a field that is growing in today’s world where there are constant advances in medicine. He believes that writing heals. His patients and their families inspire him. His words immortalise their stories. The sky is truly the limit for 25 year-old Pravin as he releases his 10th book to celebrate a decade of writing.