The Last Time I Saw You: Poems

by Akhil Katyal

'A maverick you will adore' - GEETANJALI SHREE

Akhil Katyal's The Last Time I Saw You tells the story of how we encounter grief. It intimately lays out the poet's experience of an event of loss and its aftermath. Tracing the moments from when the abyss unexpectedly opens to the gradual resurgence of the ordinary, these poems resonate with both raw and deeply considered emotion.

What helps him move on is the deciduous forest of memories surrounding him, and an unlikely cast of people (an eighteenth-century warrior-princess, Ustad Bismillah Khan, a nineteenth-century naturalist, a mediaeval saint), animals (millipedes, bats, blue bulls) and objects (quartzite, pigeon feathers, envelopes). In the backdrop is a metropolis grappling with an unprecedented illness, the involuntary migration of its inhabitants, and the harrowing effects of a communal pogrom.

With each word and line carefully poised and suffused with the spirit of human resilience, the poems in The Last Time I Saw You will linger with you long after you have read them.

Genres: Poetry

151 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2024

Reviews

[koyna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Akhil Katyal's poems are always such a pleasure ✨ this collection is bathed in the light of longing and grief and the attempt to find consolation: "There must surely be a secret search for respite in / locating the cause of grief in the same place as the / the source of light, [...]

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

🌻What does grief look like when it first arrives? And how does it evolve as life tries to return to normal? Akhil Katyal’s "The Last Time I Saw You" takes readers on an emotional journey through loss, memory, and quiet resilience

🌻Through deeply personal and beautifully crafted poems, Katyal paints a world where pain coexists with unexpected companions—a warrior-princess, Ustad Bismillah Khan, even bats and blue bulls. These figures, along with ordinary objects like pigeon feathers and envelopes, act as anchors in the sea of grief, helping the poet navigate a world forever changed.

🌻Set against the backdrop of a city battling disease, displacement, and communal violence, the collection feels hauntingly real yet oddly hopeful. Each poem whispers of endurance and the strength found in the simplest moments. Katyal doesn’t just write about loss; he writes about survival, making this book a deeply moving read that will stay with you long after the final page.

[Ashwini Sannake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes or rather, most of the time—the right kind of poetry isn’t meant to be criticized, scrutinized, or analyzed.
It’s meant to be felt.
To soothe your scars.
To dress your wounds.

This is exactly that kind of book…

A book of poetry I’d gift to every friend nursing a broken heart, trying to heal from the ache of separation, grieving a person, place, phase or emotion.

Lines that made me go Ufff!
Lines that mended what I didn’t know was broken.
Lines that hit like stark truths.
Everyday mundanity, cities, historical figures, places, fleeting thoughts…
Grief, longing, and endless yearning.
And oh, the magic of make-believe homes!

I wanted to take it slow—to savor every verse, let it seep in.
But then, there was also that impatience, that curiosity pulling me forward.
Just one more poem…
Like a child sneaking one more candy, pleading for just a few extra minutes to play. Or like someone binge-eating, unable to stop at just one or two slices, determined to devour the whole pizza.

That’s “The Last Time I Saw You” by Akhil Katyal for me.

That’s how I’ll remember this book:
My jar of candies, my warm bowl of mac n cheese.
A collection I’ll turn to when my heart needs comfort—something to hold its wounds together.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Poetry lovers, please read this book ♥️