Local History Poem by Ramakrishnan Erackot Velancherry

I never go the Taksim Square. That is where
the dogs are. They tear the world apart
street by street till the night hangs in tatters
from every tree in the park. They go for every-
one who is suspect. And everyone is
suspect. Then comes the dog-catcher who
knows every regime has its date with
dogs. The last dog always escapes. A bark
remains unaccounted for, heard from
the adjoining street receding, advancing.
There is no cat menace in the city,
the mayor said. And the young man
who asked the question is now a street-
painter, painting only cats in various poses.
In his last painting a cat arches over
the Bosphorus Strait, hind legs in Europe
and forelegs in Asia, titled "The future is now".