You Sent Me Away Poem by Raj Arumugam

I did not go away on my own;
not of my own accord was this done.
You sent me away
(or perhaps, I should say,
circumstances did;
you taught me to be vague,
not to seize the bull by its horns
for there is only one man in your annals
who can ride the beast)
because I could not do things the right way
unlike yourselves who know right and wrong
who know the moment and supply and demand
and propriety and the right views and the truth always

I knew nothing of that sort
for I had merely stumbled upon your community
and stayed long and always felt estranged.

Then you pushed me away
(or perhaps, I should say,
circumstances did)




(from The Migrant - notes of a newcomer (February 1997- July 1998))