Shanti Tangri

Isaac’s Complaint

“Where was Sarah when Abraham took his son up the mountain?” Alicia Suskin Ostriker

Mother, did father tell you
where he took me this morning?
Did he tell you why
we went to the mountain top?
Why did he not want me
to wake you up?
Why did he slip out
of the back door tip-toe?
Did you see the kitchen knife
he took with him?
Mother, are you listening?
From this day on
I am never going to go
anywhere without you.

My Father

My Father who is in Heaven,
when he was on Earth
if he were like God,
I would have run away
from home

Memories on Turning 75

Good memories,
I have many.
A good memory
I do not have.

Untitled

This morning,
my father looked at me in the mirror
and said,
When I was your age
I was two years dead,
why complain, my son?

Born, feb.1,1928 in Rawalpindi(then in India, now in Pakistan).Grew up in Lahore.B.Sc. in Physics in Pyhysics and Chemistry, M.A. in Economics, both from Punjab University;Ph.D.in Economics, U.of Calif.Berkeley, Cal.Except for a year as free lance writer and journalist, and has been in school most of his life as a student or a teacher. Shanti has had published essays and poetry in Hindi,short stoties in Urdu, and written, directed and produced plays in Punjabi, Hindi and English. Having taught at various universities, Shanti retired from Rutgers after 28 years of teaching in 1998.