And Still, I Wait: Notes on the Stillness After Love

by Abhishek Agarwal

94 pages, Paperback

Published December 19, 2025

Reviews

[Rahul Vishnoi · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Of Love & the Loss it Brings'
Review of 'And Still I Wait' by Abhishek Agarwal

Quote Alert
"𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞
𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞'𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬,
𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡
𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭,
𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞.
𝐈 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞
𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬,
𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬
𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫."

'And Still I Wait' is a collection of poems that talks about the indelible impressions love and loss leave upon not only our skin but upon our very soul. These words are about shadows and stains, love and loss, memories and pain, hope and resilience, wounds and flaws. These poems are as much about falling down as they are about keeping one's chin up and getting back up. Because to be human is to move on and keep moving on. One foot after another.
He writes:
"The world moved on,
but I didnt.
Not because I couldn't,
but because I still believed
you'd look back once
and find me there—
right where you left me,
with faith dressed as foolishness."

Love, loss, resilience, hope and getting up again: these are the themes of Abhishek Agarwal's poetry collection. Finding a love so striking that 'doesnt ask for permission', only to lose it like sand through fingers.
He writes:
"It didnt ask for permission.
It didn't arrive with fowers or words.
It simply happened -
like dusk finding the sky
without ever asking where it belonged.
I didn't fall in love with you.
I noticed I already had.
Some truths don't appear —
they reveal what was always there."

The words meander through strong emotions, evoking a maelstrom of emotions:
"The truth is —
no one tells you how love leaves.
It doesn't vanish all at once.
It fades like sound underwater,
until what's left is only vibration -
a hum you learn to live with."

The poems of 'And Still I Wait' contain a little part of author's heart. And the reader can feel the longing he must have felt while putting tbr quill to the paper. The poems, although they are of past, they don't just stay there. Like a time machine, they take you back, pulling you not to the heartbreak on paper but your own. And this is actually the poet's victory- the ability of his words to evoke a forgotten ache in us.
He writes:
"You said my name like it already belonged
somewhere inside you,
and for a moment
I forgot who I was before that echo.
People speak to be heard.
But that day, I realized —
some words exist
only to be remembered."

Agarwal's words are searing and haunting. Most of the poems talk about heartbreak and heart ache. The poet has etched grief into words. Her poems are an ode to the knife of grief and how it cuts through flesh, seen and unseen, how it tears us into pieces. He writes:
"Every pause in your sentence
became a message I tried to decode.
Every late reply,
a verdict waiting to be delivered.
You said it so lightly—
as if thinking was a choice.
But some of us
were born inside our thoughts,
and never learned how to leave."

But after grief comes hope:
"Hope as ethics,
not emotion.
A way of standing
in the world
that doesn't deny the dark
but refuses to bow to it."

He writes about dusting off the knees and getting back into the world:
"It started small—
morning sunlight on the floor,
a song I didn't skip,
a cup of tea
I finished without remembering you.
Healing never announces itself.
It just sneaks in quietly
and takes your place
on the side of the bed
where grief used to sleep."

These are the poems that sometimes send shockwaves of passion and longing down your spinal cord like an earhtshaking electric guitar, and towards the end, they feel cool like a jaltarang. Have a look:
"It stops translating everything
into you
A sky becomes a sky again,
not a metaphor,
Hunger means food,
not longing.
Sleep is sleep."

He ends the poetry collection with a twinge of regret wrapped in heaps of tenderness. Pick it up this week.

[Bookswithavinish · Rating 5 out of 5]

And Still, I Wait: Notes on the Stillness After Love is not a poetry collection that seeks attention through dramatic declarations of heartbreak. Instead, it chooses restraint — and that restraint becomes its greatest strength.

Abhishek Agarwal writes from the quiet aftermath of love, a space literature often overlooks: not the moment of loss itself, but the long, muted silence that follows.

These poems operate in the liminal zone between presence and absence. Agarwal is less interested in narrating love’s collapse and more focused on what lingers after — memory, waiting, unresolved tenderness, and a subdued resilience.

The voice throughout the collection is contemplative rather than confessional. There is no attempt to romanticize suffering; instead, the poems acknowledge pain while refusing to let it dominate the page.

Poems are spare, almost minimalist, but never empty. Each line feels carefully weighed, as though silence itself is part of the verse.

Agarwal seems to suggest that survival after love is not always about moving on, but about learning how to remain — with dignity, memory, and self-awareness intact. This makes the collection particularly resonant for readers who have experienced unspoken goodbyes or relationships that faded without resolution.

And Still, I Wait is a book for quiet readers — for those who have loved without spectacle, lost without noise, and healed without applause. It does not promise answers, only companionship in the waiting. And sometimes, that is the most honest form of poetry there is.

A tender, introspective poetry collection that honors silence, emotional restraint, and the understated strength it takes to keep going after love has passed.

Must read♥️♥️

[Satyam Sholankey · Rating 5 out of 5]

"For those who stayed, even when staying meant waiting for nothing."


"And Still, I Wait" is a reflective poetry collection that lingers in the emotional quiet that follows love’s transformation.


Rather than dramatizing heartbreak, Abhishek Agarwal focuses on the inward journey — the thoughtful pause where memory, acceptance, and self-realization begin to take shape.


The poems move gently through longing and resilience, presenting waiting not as weakness but as emotional endurance.


The language remains clear and unadorned, allowing sincerity to take precedence over ornamentation.


In this sense, the collection echoes William Shakespeare’s timeless line:


"Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak whispers the o’er-fraught heart and bids it break."


Like this insight from "Macbeth", Abhishek Agarwal’s poems give voice to unspoken feelings, preventing silence from turning into emotional fracture.


The quiet strength within the collection also recalls Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 116":


"Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds."


There is a steady faith in enduring emotion, even when circumstances shift.


Similarly, the reflective tone aligns with William Wordsworth’s belief that poetry arises from "emotion recollected in tranquility."


Abhishek Agarwal’s work embodies this idea — feelings are not expressed in chaos, but revisited calmly, with maturity and grace.


Overall, this collection offers a thoughtful meditation on love’s aftermath, emphasizing emotional honesty, patience, and the quiet strength discovered within stillness. Everyone should read this book because it talks about "Love" and "Love is Life."

Happy Reading, Happy Learning.

[Bestbookhunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

#bookreview 

This book, "And Still, I Wait" by Abhishek Agarwal is a heartfelt and emotional poetry collection. The author not only writes about love or heartbreak but also expresses beautifully about tender moments in love.

These poetries are like spaces between love and loss which speaks about presence, memory, hope and acceptance. This anthology is so genuinely and honestly written that it feels very personal.

The language is simple and easy to read. The book has no heavy words and complex metaphors, rather each poem flows naturally like an emotion with empty heart which makes emotions more real and relatable. 

The poems like 'When You Said My Name' and 'Love Without Warning' shows love as recognition not romance. The poems shows how love appears quietly and changes our heart without even warning. And it also shows how feelings are always there in love even before we understand them.

The best thing about this collection is its relatability as we can relate our own memories to these lines. If we read with open heart then we can see a part of ourselves in these verses.

Most of the poems are like reflections than traditional lyrical poetry. And i think this style suits the theme of this book as life and emotions are also not always perfect.

Overall, this is a must read book for those who enjoy emotional depth and maturity in poetry. These pieces are not meant to fix but understand our own emotions. As rightly said - even after love ends something meaningful always remains. Do grab your copy from Amazon 😍

Book : And Still, I Wait
Author : Abhishek Agarwal
Genre : #poetry 
Rating : 4.8/5

[Megha Bhatia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book felt less like finishing a book and more like sitting quietly with parts of myself I usually avoid. It isn’t dramatic or loud; it’s reflective, patient, and deeply human. From the acknowledgments onward, there’s an emotional honesty that prepares you for poems that live in the space after love shifts, fades, or quietly transforms.

The author writes about waiting, but not as weakness. His waiting feels layered, waiting for closure, for clarity, for the heart to steady itself again. The poems move through love, absence, memory, and acceptance with a softness that feels sincere. Nothing is over-explained, and nothing tries too hard to impress. The simplicity of the language is what makes it powerful.

Many verses felt like thoughts I’ve carried silently. One line that stayed with me reads:
“Finding myself again wasn’t dramatic.
It was gentle — a small recognition, a quiet homecoming, a whispered truth:
I never truly left.”
That passage alone captures the soul of this collection, healing not as fireworks, but as a slow return to oneself.

Poems like When You Said My Name and Love Without Warning portray love as recognition rather than spectacle. And throughout the book, there’s a reminder that healing doesn’t always mean moving on quickly; sometimes it means sitting still long enough to understand what remains.

This isn’t a collection meant for hurried reading or highlighting for display. It’s best read slowly, perhaps on a quiet evening, one poem at a time. It doesn’t promise to fix heartbreak; it offers companionship through it.

For anyone who has loved deeply or waited longer than expected, this book feels like a gentle, understanding presence.

[Megha Bhatia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book felt less like finishing a book and more like sitting quietly with parts of myself I usually avoid. It isn’t dramatic or loud; it’s reflective, patient, and deeply human. From the acknowledgments onward, there’s an emotional honesty that prepares you for poems that live in the space after love shifts, fades, or quietly transforms.

The author writes about waiting, but not as weakness. His waiting feels layered, waiting for closure, for clarity, for the heart to steady itself again. The poems move through love, absence, memory, and acceptance with a softness that feels sincere. Nothing is over-explained, and nothing tries too hard to impress. The simplicity of the language is what makes it powerful.

Many verses felt like thoughts I’ve carried silently. One line that stayed with me reads:
“Finding myself again wasn’t dramatic.
It was gentle — a small recognition, a quiet homecoming, a whispered truth:
I never truly left.”
That passage alone captures the soul of this collection, healing not as fireworks, but as a slow return to oneself.

Poems like When You Said My Name and Love Without Warning portray love as recognition rather than spectacle. And throughout the book, there’s a reminder that healing doesn’t always mean moving on quickly; sometimes it means sitting still long enough to understand what remains.

This isn’t a collection meant for hurried reading or highlighting for display. It’s best read slowly, perhaps on a quiet evening, one poem at a time. It doesn’t promise to fix heartbreak; it offers companionship through it.

For anyone who has loved deeply or waited longer than expected, this book feels like a gentle, understanding presence.

[Shahreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

‎“If love arrives again,
‎it will sit beside me
‎without trying to dazzle,
‎patient enough to stay ordinary.”

‎There’s something very quiet and honest about And Still, I Wait. It doesn’t rush you. It doesn’t try to sound grand or dramatic. Instead, it sits with you — in the pauses, in the ache, in the moments you didn’t know how to name before reading them here.
‎This book feels like a journey through love, loss, distance, and the slow return to self. The poems talk about waiting — not just for a person, but for clarity, for peace, for understanding.
I found myself stopping often, not because the poems were hard to read, but because they felt familiar. Like thoughts I’ve had at 2 a.m. but never wrote down.

‎What I really appreciated is how simple the language is. There are no heavy metaphors forcing emotions on you. The feelings arrive gently, almost quietly, and somehow stay longer because of that. Poems about love don’t romanticize pain here — they acknowledge it, sit with it, and slowly move forward.

‎Some pieces feel deeply personal, while others feel like they could belong to anyone who has waited for love to make sense, or for heartbreak to soften. The themes of forgiveness, solitude, and emotional growth are woven naturally, not announced loudly.
‎This is the kind of poetry book you don’t finish in one sitting. You read a few poems, close the book, and think about them later. If you enjoy reflective poetry that feels real, soft, and deeply human, this one is worth picking up.
‎

[Shifali · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a heartfelt collection of 46 poems that resonate with the silence aching in every heart. These poems speak of connection, distance, waiting, surrender, and the strange peace that follows when the heart learns to carry it cannot change.

These poems vividly depict the aftermath of the heartbroke and how this tragic situation shapes our present and behaviour. Beginning with a whisper love seeks its place deep in heart but the collisions and feeling of being found makes it so smooth as if never lost.

I enjoyed reading almost all the poems making it hard for me to absorb the feeling for so long. These poems wander through the widening spaces between what was said and what was meant, between closeness and the memory of it and much more.

Verses that piqued me:
🌸" But silence teaches its own lessons:
not every absence is a loss,
and not every pause is a promise.
Sometimes it's just the sound
of someone choosing elsewhere,
while you are still listening."


🌸 "And in that stillness,
I learnt how heavy
unanswered questions can be,
how they circle the mind
looking for doors
that no longer open."

The author has indirectly shared his experience of beginning with a whisper to the silence that settles after someone leaves. His deep but heart-touching brief in the beginning of each section of poems makes the reader linger to perceive the insights of truth hardly acknowledged.

Overall, it is a heartfelt collection of poems, and the emotions felt are palpable.

[Archana Ramakrishna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading And Still I Wait feels like sitting beside someone who doesn’t speak much—but when they do, every word lands. This slim poetry booklet thrives on restraint. Agarwal doesn’t rush emotion; he lets it linger, echo, and ache. The poems move through love, longing, absence, hope, and emotional endurance with a quiet persistence that mirrors the title itself.
The recurring emotional posture of the book is patience—not passive patience, but the kind that aches. Waiting becomes an act of devotion, of memory, of self-examination. Love is rarely loud here; it is hesitant, unfinished, and often unanswered. The poems feel like they are written in the margins of time—between texts that never came, between moments that almost happened.
What makes this collection resonate is its simplicity. Agarwal uses accessible language, but the emotional subtext is layered. Many poems feel like confessions you might never say out loud, only admit to yourself at night.
A phrase that captures the soul of the book is its own quiet refrain:
“and still I wait”
That waiting is not just for a person—it’s for closure, meaning, forgiveness, and sometimes for oneself. Another striking moment comes when the poet reduces love to endurance rather than possession, suggesting that staying emotionally present can be its own form of loyalty.
This is a book best read slowly, perhaps repeatedly. It speaks most powerfully to readers who have loved deeply, lost quietly, or waited longer than they expected. If you enjoy poetry that values emotional honesty over ornamentation, this collection will feel familiar—almost uncomfortably so.

[Shweta · Rating 4 out of 5]

And Still, I Wait is a book you read slowly and gently as it speaks to you in a tender, quiet language of unprocessed feelings.


This poetry collection doesn’t make love or heartbreak intense, instead, it addresses the emotion that are mostly ignored, the stillness and silence after love has passed. The waiting. The unanswered questions. The small ache that constantly remains and us not demanding attention but refuses to disappear.


Here the poems are written by author Abhishek Agarwal allowing silence to carry all the weight instead of words. The poems are deeply human, they tell you that acknowledging that sometimes staying with feelings and pain is courageous and thar healing is not linear. These poems do not tell you move on or hide pain to show motivation.


The poems are reflective in nature and talks about attachment, loss, and release and acceptance without bitterness. These poems are about survival rather than sorrow and grace rather than despair.


Each poem shows you a way to pause and slowly reclaim peace on your own terms.


And Still, I Wait will resonate with readers who are searching for meaning in silence and have found themselves in the quiet of their hearts. It’s a gentle read for anyone who is trying to fix what was broken, but to honor what remained.

[DIPTISHA SARKAR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Healing never announces itself,
adjust sneaks in quietly
and takes your place
on the side of the bed
where grief used to sleep.

'And Still, I Wait: Notes on the Stillness After Love' by Abhishek Agarwal is a collection of poems with such depth that it had me feel such emotions which can't be said through words. The poems of this book particularly focus on the feelings after heartbreak- grief, doubt, loneliness, acceptance and healing. Every line of this book is written with so much intensity. It felt like I was talking to some close friend of mine who has just been through a separation and is sharing to me about the heartache.

Love- the best feeling in the world also makes us feel the emotions that we don't want to feel. This book felt like a soft touch on the unhealed part of the readers' heart. Through the verses, the poet makes sure to say the parts of our life that often go unsaid.

It's strange -
you stopped listening,
and still,
I never stopped talking.

The brilliance of the book lies in the maturity with which the poems are written. The book is divided into 7 parts, which are further divided into 46 beautifully written poems. The poems magically made me feel a bit better, so you might want to read it as well.

[readerkd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some books don’t feel like stories. They feel like spaces you sit inside for a while. This one quietly explores the emotional aftermath of love through moments that are soft, unspoken, and deeply familiar.

It lives in pauses, in unsent texts, in conversations that ended without closure. The writing does not try to overwhelm. It simply stays with you, gently, allowing you to feel without forcing you to.

What I appreciated most was how the emotional journey unfolds. It begins with longing and confusion but slowly moves toward distance, silence, forgiveness, and acceptance. The language is simple, yet emotionally layered. It feels like thoughts you have carried but never fully expressed.

As the pages pass, the meaning of waiting begins to shift. It stops feeling like waiting for someone else and starts feeling like waiting for your own healing to arrive. There is sadness, but it carries warmth rather than heaviness.

By the end, what remains is not loss but stillness. A quiet return to self. A reminder that healing rarely arrives loudly. Sometimes it simply settles in, softly, over time.

[Khushi Khandelwal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading And Still, I Wait felt like entering a quiet conversation with my own soul. From the opening pages, I recognized fragments of myself in its gentle sincerity.

The book explores longing, endurance, and the quiet courage it takes to remain hopeful when clarity feels distant; and that resonated with me profoundly. It reminded me that waiting is not merely a pause in life, but often the very space where transformation unfolds.

I was drawn to the understated elegance of the writing. Its intimacy felt almost sacred, as though I were being entrusted with unspoken confessions.

Certain lines made me stop and breathe, lingering in their truth because they articulated emotions I had long carried but never fully expressed.

While some themes reappear, the repetition felt intentional and reassuring; like returning to a familiar reflection until deeper understanding emerges.

This was not simply a book I read; it was an experience I absorbed. It gently affirmed that even in stillness, growth is quietly taking root within me.

[Sushant Reader Hub · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Poetry is truly a heartfelt book which you can feel while reading this book guys.It doesn’t try to sound grand or dramatic. Instead, it sits with you in the pauses, in the ache, in the moments you didn’t know how to name before reading them here.Its simply exploring silence in a quiet conversation with the soul.

All poem of this book carry a quiet honesty about love that stayed, love that left, and the stillness that follows when everything settles.
The poems move gently through longing and resilience, presenting waiting not as weakness but as emotional endurance.
The tone of the poems is gentle and introspective.
Lastly I would say ,Some part touch gently and other shakes is hard


Most importantly, the poem written in this book are completely simple & short along with accessible language which you can understood very easily while reading.


Book Reccomendation:-
If you want to begin Poetry book then you can pick this ,you would not felt bored while reading.

Those Individual who want to read heartfelt & emotional type poetry then you can read this too.

[Shipra Arora · Rating 5 out of 5]

“No final message
no last warning
just the slow dimming
of someone I once trusted
to stay bright.”
.
And Still, I Wait is not a book you read
it is a book you sit with

It speaks in the hush that follows love
when words have already been said
when goodbyes linger longer than people
and when waiting becomes a language of its own

Abhishek Agarwal writes as if he understands that ache
between remembering and letting go
These poems do not cry loudly
They breathe
They pause
They allow silence to finish the sentence

Each verse feels like a soft knock on a closed door
never demanding to be opened
only reminding you that something once lived there
There is longing but no drama
Heartbreak but no bitterness
Just the quiet dignity of love that has ended
yet refuses to disappear

The beauty of this collection lies in its restraint
Nothing is forced

A tender companion for lonely evenings
and for hearts that are no longer broken

[Shivam Maurya · Rating 5 out of 5]

. This book felt incredibly real.

It doesn’t try to impress with heavy words or dramatic poetry — it simply tells the truth about love, waiting, silence, heartbreak, and healing. Every poem feels like it was written from lived experience, not imagination. From unread messages to fading relationships and the quiet comfort of friendships, the emotions here are deeply relatable.

What I loved most is how gentle the writing is. It doesn’t force meaning. It lets you feel. Some poems sit with you long after you finish reading, especially if you’ve ever loved someone who slowly drifted away or waited for someone who never quite came back.

The author has done beautiful, honest work here. You can feel the patience, vulnerability, and emotional depth behind every page. This is not just a poetry book — it’s a mirror for anyone who has ever felt too much and said too little.

Highly recommended for readers who enjoy soft, emotional, and deeply human poetry.

[Priyanka M · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Sometimes healing happens

not when you confront the past,

but when you finally realize

you've stopped returning to it."


This book feels like a quiet conversation with someone who truly gets your loss. The 46 poems live in space after love ends, not in drama but in silence, unanswered questions, and lingering memories. Each piece reads like a gentle breeze in summer afternoon.


The language is simple, with no heavy metaphors, so the emotions feel real and easy to reach. Poems like Her Laugh was a language and Maybe it was meant show love as warmth in small gestures rather than grand romance and they echo the feelings we often keep hidden.


"It was never about endings,

was it?

It was about learning

how much the heart can hold

and still keep beating."


This collection doesn’t promise quick healing instead it offers honesty and space to sit with pain. It’s a slow, tender read for anyone who wants to honor what remains after love, to find meaning in stillness, and to accept that some aches stay, but they can be held with grace.


Overall, if you enjoy poetry that mirrors your own quiet moments and helps you stay with your feelings then this book is a perfect, gentle companion.

[Chithu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a good poetry book after a long time. And Still, I Wait: Notes on the Stillness After Love by Abhishek Agarwal explores the phase after a relationship ends the waiting, the overthinking, and the slow acceptance that comes after.

The poems are short and simple, and they are easy to understand. Many of them felt honest and relatable. The poet writes about waiting, letting go, and trying to find peace within yourself.

Overall, this is a short and relatable collection. It will connect more with readers who appreciate quiet, honest writing rather than heavy metaphors.

Some of my favourite poems from the book :

1. Maybe that's the secret that not all miracles are meant to last. Some are meant only to be noticed, held briefly, and remembered forever.

2. And so I waited not for you, but for reason to give up.

3. No final message, no last conversation, just a slow dimming of someone I once trusted to stay bright

[Aditi · Rating 4 out of 5]

And Still, I Wait is not a book that demands attention. It sits beside you quietly, much like the grief it speaks of. Abhishek Agarwal writes about love not in its intensity, but in its aftermath. The waiting. The stillness. The slow, almost invisible work of healing.

“It started small — morning sunlight on the floor… a cup of tea I finished without remembering you.” Lines like these do not dramatize heartbreak. They soften it. The poems move gently through absence, showing how healing rarely arrives as a declaration. “Healing never announces itself. It just sneaks in quietly.” That sentiment defines the entire collection.

There is restraint in Agarwal’s voice. He does not try to overwhelm the reader with ornate language or grand metaphors. Instead, he observes. He pauses. He allows silence to carry meaning. The poems feel like notes written in the margins of solitude, where longing slowly transforms into acceptance.

[Udoti Mohta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some books are read.
Some books are felt.

And Still, I Wait by Abhishek Agarwal is a gentle collection of poems that explores the silence that follows love — the waiting, the memories, and the quiet strength we discover within ourselves.

The poems are simple yet deeply moving. They don’t try to be loud or overly dramatic; instead, they speak softly about longing, reflection, healing, and acceptance. Many lines feel like unspoken emotions we carry but rarely express.

What makes this book special is its honesty. It reminds us that healing doesn’t always mean moving on quickly — sometimes it means sitting with the stillness and slowly finding ourselves again.

This is a book best read slowly, one poem at a time, on quiet evenings when you want to sit with your thoughts.

If you enjoy poetry that feels personal, reflective, and emotionally real, this book will stay with you long after the last page.

[Mahi Aggarwal · Rating 4 out of 5]

"And Still, I Wait: Notes on the Stillness After Love" by Abhishek Agarwal felt less like a book and more like sitting with my own emotions in silence.

This is not a collection you read for lines to quote, it’s one you feel slowly, page by page. The poems carry a quiet honesty about love that stayed, love that left, and the stillness that follows when everything settles. I loved how the writing doesn’t try to be loud or poetic for effect; it stays real, vulnerable, and deeply human.

Many poems felt like unspoken thoughts I didn’t know how to name, yet here they were, written with simplicity and depth. This book reminds you that healing isn’t always about moving on fast ~ it’s about waiting, understanding, and gently returning to yourself.

A comforting read for anyone who finds peace in soft words and honest emotions.

[Surbhi Jain · Rating 5 out of 5]

And Still, I Wait feels less like a poetry collection and more like sitting quietly with someone who understands exactly what you lost, but never rushes you to move on.


These 46 poems live in the aftermath of love. Not the dramatic ending, but the silence that follows. The unanswered questions. The versions of yourself that linger. The author writes with restraint and tenderness, letting pauses speak as loudly as words. Each poem feels like a breath held just a second too long.


Every Goodbye I Never Got hollowed me out in the gentlest way, grief without closure, laid bare. After the Aftermath captures that strange numbness when the pain has settled but hasn’t left. And The Things I Said to No One feels devastatingly intimate, like reading thoughts you never dared to name.


This book doesn’t promise healing. It promises honesty. And sometimes, that’s enough.

[Priya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a quiet exploration of love, loss and slow discipline of returning to your own self.

The book moves from longing and memory to acceptance and strength. The shift from waiting for someone to returning to yourself shows silence as awareness not emptiness.

The tone of the poems is gentle and introspective. They are emotionally restrained rather than explosive.

The emotional clarity and the clean and clutterless diction makes the poems accessible yet reflective.

The one that really got my eye are:

⭐ "When you said my name" - this one captures the moment before and after love in one single breath.

⭐ "A season late" - this one accept that sums returns only prove why we left.

⭐ "The uses of solitude" - this one transforms loneliness.

This book's power lies in softness. It won't overwhelm you. It will stay with you.

[Swati · Rating 4 out of 5]

And Still, I Wait by Abhishek Agarwal feels like a quiet conversation with someone who truly gets what it’s like after love ends. The poems don’t shout or dramatize heartbreak they settle into the spaces between words, into the silence, the waiting, and the small breaths we take when everything feels still.


Each piece feels like a gentle reminder that even when love fades, something remains: a quiet strength, a soft hope, and a calm you didn’t know you needed. It’s not about grand gestures or heavy emotions; it’s about simply being with those moments and finding peace in them.


If you’ve ever loved, lost, or just waited for something to feel right, this collection will feel like it’s speaking straight to you. 💌

[Abhishek Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This poetry book contains 45 poems divided into several subparts, each covering different phases of love, such as loving someone, heartbreak, and the journey of healing.

The lines are simple to understand, yet they carry such deep meaning that the emotions linger long after reading.

The writing is highly effective and is sure to leave a lasting impact on the reader.

The author has done a tremendous job of presenting profound thoughts in a simplistic manner, and each poem successfully captured my attention.

I must say, this is a truly lovely book for poetry lovers and a must-read at least once.

[Indu Garg · Rating 5 out of 5]

It sensitively probes what is left after love silently dissolves.

Abhishek Agarwal composes his lyrics with gentle elegance. Instead of emptiness, he has transformed silence into meaningful feelings. Every poem is like a private moment for the reader but at the same time, they can identify with those feelings on a very general level, longing, acceptance, and quiet resilience.

The main thing I liked about this book is that it respects feelings without smothering them. Its not about being dramatic at the end, but rather, about the serenity and inner strength found in waiting, healing, and finding oneself again.

[Sakshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love often begins in whispers and ends in silence — somewhere between the two, we find ourselves.” ✨
If you’ve ever sat in the heavy quiet of a room after someone has left, you know that silence isn’t empty; it’s full of everything left unsaid. And Still, I Wait is a hauntingly beautiful collection that captures that exact frequency.
While Bollywood often gives us the "Tandav" of heartbreak—the screaming, the rain, and the destruction—Abhishek Agarwal gives us the grace.

[Jenny Writes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A read to experience the depth of emotions that are raw and real enough to feel.

Penned with originality and inked with solitude,the book is just the right read for anyone who values and reciprocates to emotions that go beyond one's expectations.

One of the best reads I had my hand in.

[Early Morning Memories · Rating 4 out of 5]

And still I wait is a collection of poems by poet Abhishek Agarwal which shares human emotions bonds and romance

The poet chooses the theme of love and the stillness after love

The collection is dedicated to all the people who just stayed after complexities in and within a bond.

[Aradhna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gentle and deeply reflective poetry collection that lingers in the quiet spaces between love, loss and healing. Rather than dramatic romance or ornate metaphors, the poems embrace simplicity, allowing emotions to unfold naturally and honestly. The writing feels intimate, almost like reading personal thoughts written during moments of stillness, where memory, longing and acceptance coexist. Agarwal explores how love often arrives softly and leaves behind lessons that shape self-understanding. Many poems read like contemplations rather than traditional lyrical pieces, which makes them relatable and emotionally grounding. Themes of patience, hope and emotional resilience run throughout the book, reminding readers that healing is not always about moving forward quickly but about learning to sit with oneself. It is a comforting read for anyone drawn to quiet honesty and heartfelt reflection.