Rachna Singh, Editor, The Wise Owl talks to Ranu Uniyal about her poetry collection This Could be a Love Poem for You, shortlisted for The Wise Owl Literary Awards 2026.

Rachna Singh, Editor, The Wise Owl talks to Ranu Uniyal about her poetry collection This Could be a Love Poem for You, shortlisted for The Wise Owl Literary Awards 2026.

Congratulations on being shortlisted Ranu and thank you for taking time out to talk with The Wise Owl about your creativity and craft.

RS: Let me start by asking you a question that goes to the heart of your book. What was the emotional or experiential spark behind This Could Be a Love Poem for You? Was there a particular moment, memory, or period in your life that nudged these poems into being?

RU: Poetry is born out of restlessness. Unlike the Yogi who aspires for stillness, a sense of calm – a poet has insatiable hunger, a disquiet that goads him not towards stillness but towards writing. Most of the poems in this collection were written in the last five to seven years. Years full of anxiety and despair, loss and uncertainty. Then there was Covid – the raging monster that took away so much from life. I think I was intrigued by the thought of death. Confronting the reality that yes, we are gradually on our way out and nothing at all is permanent fills you with a sense of void, an emptiness grips you. But then it also brings with it some sense of relief – that this pain, suffering, misery on the earth is bound to come to an end. It is not forever. My poetry draws its inspiration from a diverse range of thoughts.

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RS: Many poems in the collection are steeped in the sensory world of the parental home—violet plum flowers, jams, old, embroidered cushions, ageing furniture. How important is sensory memory in your poetic practice, and does it become a way of returning to what time and loss have taken away?

RU: We are made of memories. We live in memories. Take away the memories and we are left with nothing. Home, life with parents and siblings, childhood, growing up years, friends, old motifs, curtains, smell of raw mangoes, mother’s kitchen, hibiscus flowers – there are too many images that fill up these poems. The taste of plums, the touch of a friend who is no more, the tenderness of ma’s hands and her smile as I walked in to see her are now sheer images at the back of my mind and often, they spill on paper in the form of a poem. The desire to hold on to memories is a unique human ability and a life that has been lost can only be retrieved through re-telling. Sensory memory leaps into the present and a poem is born.

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RS: Some of the most moving poems emerge from the quiet aftermath of losing a parent, carrying an ache that lingers rather than resolves. Did writing these poems help you understand grief differently—as something ongoing rather than finite?

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RU: Loss of your loved ones will always leave a dent in your heart. Suddenly there is an urge to step into an abyss of silence. Grief pulls you inside. It tears you apart. I have cried while writing some of these poems and I am not ashamed of my tears. Writing has helped me accept the loss. Writing is cathartic. It heals the sore wounds There is a sense of regret for not having loved enough. I have begged for forgiveness; I have offered my love through these poems. In my own selfish way, I have written them to save myself from despair.

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RS: The title of your book gestures towards love, yet the poems often hold tenderness alongside disquiet and questioning. What kind of “love poem” is this book—who, or what, is the ‘you’ addressed across these pages?

RU: When everything else fades into oblivion the only thing left is love. I think love in all its forms is the most valuable gift we can give to each other. Everyone wants to be loved. Look at the little children, ageing parents, animals, birds- jeev and brahm – all are in search of love. It is the essential hunger for love that brings us close, compels us to forge bonds, seek each other. The
desire to be loved will materialise if we learn to give love. In giving we shall receive. This Could Be a Love Poem for you is a prayer addressed to the beloved. The beloved could be the one in flesh and blood, a human or a prayer to the Almighty – My Guru and God – whose eternal grace has filled this life with Ananda- Sat Chit Ananda. This is a love poem expressing gratitude for all that life has offered me.

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RS: Even when the poems engage with the political, they do so through a philosophical lens rather than direct assertion. Do you believe poetry is most powerful when it raises questions instead of offering answers—especially in troubled times?

RU: Poetry raises questions, but each one of us will have to find our own answers. Each life has unique experiences that determine the course. We learn from life. Poetry and philosophy are inseparable, and politics is the fabric of social life. As human beings we cannot remain impervious to social injustice, inequality and poets cannot stop from engaging themselves with the socio-political landscape. The poet’s eye sees it all and the day poets will stop noticing what’s going on and asking questions will be the end of poetry. I am reminded of the lines by Ben Okri “We rise or fall by the choice we make / It all depends on the road we take/ And the choice and the road each depend/ On the light we have, the light we bend…” Human beings are born with a curiosity to know. Knowledge and devotion – gyan and bhakti are two essential life affirming forces that add meaning to our existence on this earth.

RS: As a poet, academic, editor, and someone deeply involved in care work through PYSSUM, your life engages constantly with vulnerability and ethics. How do these lived realities shape the moral and emotional contours of your poetry today?

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RU: One is integral to the other. Life has been full. I taught for a living but that became my passion. As a teacher my priority was ideas and books. Reading, writing, discussing, reviewing books. I enjoyed classroom interaction with students. My involvement with PYSSUM is of a different kind. Working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities has opened many doors. I see every individual as a unique being on this earth. We are all special. There is much to learn from people who are cast aside as good for nothing. They have love in abundance. Ordinary mortals, able bodied are constantly seeking power and fame or running after money. They are always in a hurry to fulfil their ambitions. Being in the company of people who are challenged, devalued and dismissed with wounds of rejection has helped me grow and write. With so much suffering around me and sometimes with a wound a new poem was born. To each wound I said heal, heal, and you must heal. Lived realities shape our words. Bearing witness is a Buddhist practice that helps you face suffering and turn towards each other. It invokes a sense of togetherness. I feel blessed to witness moments of blissful joy that little things or small gestures can do to bring smile and laughter on the faces of people at PYSSUM. Life brings with it unpredictable shades, rough contours, happy moments, interminable sadness, gurgling laughter and this is accompanied by a fullness that is difficult to define. In the words of Carl Sandberg “Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.” I too wish to enter the world of the voiceless and let my verse echo their thoughts and feelings. My poetry is striving to show towards man – love and kindness, towards God – gratitude and surrender.

 

RS: What next?

RU: There is a certain kind of madness everywhere, and the eternal optimist in me keeps saying - everything will be fine. At the end of the day nothing matters but kindness and care. Let life take its own course and let me have the courage to face it. Lift me up O Lord! / And let not the negative forces pull me down. Write she must, to survive in this cacophony of madness.

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Thank you so much Ranu for talking with The Wise Owl. Wishing you the very best in all your future endeavours.