THE PET

Two weeks ago

our next door neighbours

went on a vacation tour

to Tanjore, their native land

about three hundred kilometers away.

Their beautiful

snow white pomeranian

their protector

drove down leaving him alone.

Like a desert plant

he groaned and moaned

for their proximity

to vent his pain

frustration, anger and  helplessness.

In a sense

his protectors were 

dumping him in the

lurch

like people

dumping their waste

in a waste-treatment plant.

They could have

entrusted the immediate neighbour

and pleaded for taking care

of their pet till they

came back from Tanjore.

The dog continued to howl,

groan and nark 

with hunger turning painful and unbearable.

At last with patience

reaching rock bottom

he went out

walked down the street

with no destination in mind.

The neighbours came

back after a fortnight

but to their embarrassment

and despair

he was nowhere there

‘Jimmy Jimmy ‘ – they cried

aloud with no takers for

their remorse and pain palpable on their faces.

They prayed God to bring him back

but their God never cared

to listen to their prayers.

With them resigned to fate

with their faces turning

dark and cloudy

they took no food

for three to four days

pondering over

the pet who never came back.