In this poem, a bartender counsels Vandana on life’s unpredictability and the heart’s resilience, exclusively for Different Truths.

I have found the sanest advice 
From bartender 
When the night was young 
The day had died 
 
The Godmen were asleep
Or furtively being bad
I took my chances
I tossed coins 
That didn’t always win
 
A wise old drinker 
Told me 
Your heart 
With or without 
Its stents 
Is yours 

Some days it’s up for healing 
Some nights, it will remain broken 
Like that dog in the corner 
Turning away 
All food on offer.

Picture design by Anumita Roy

Vandana Kumar

Vandana Kumar is a French teacher, translator, Indie Film Producer, cinephile and poet in New Delhi, India. Her poems have been published in several national and international websites, literary journals, and anthologies of repute. Her cinema articles appear regularly in ‘Just-cinema’
and ‘The Daily Eye’. Her debut anthology of poems ‘Mannequin of Our Times’ was published in February 2023.The book has been awarded The Panorama International Book Award 2023.