Pariah Dog
Between lights unfiltered, the dark of dusk
Shadows swelter, in search of what?

When we were friends and foes in arms
Thrown out were you, in days long gone
And now in eyes of hazy focus
Haunt the dreams of long-lost flourish
Yet I cannot refrain from holding
To seek of mine abject your scolding
So in a cycle, we repeat
The cry of growth, attack, retreat
You cannot stay the hand once fed
This mouth of mine you surely bred
Is it fair in the depth of night
You hold a candle to my plight?
My deeds though dark and heavy fought
Are not so reminiscent of your thought?
Between lights unfiltered, the bright of dawn
Steps the pariah, lips undrawn
This poem is a post-colonial response to the Global North, India’s growing entanglement with Western scrutiny