I learned from Sri Lanka
to go overboard, to flounder
in the deep ocean
while Navy sailors beat
me with sticks, and cut
my nets, and round me up
as the country’s diplomats
meet my Indian representatives
with elaborate denials
of mistreatment
on the high and most
domestic seas.
I want to feed
my wife and children,
return to Tamil Nadu
with my catch. I have
not been re-schooled
as a farmer
or an errand boy.
Will the United Nations
take up my case?
The International
Criminal Court?
My Chief Minister
protests and protests
but the Center is deaf
and keeps speaking
with the devil.
How can we calm
his temperature,
cool the beast,
teach the tyrant
that he cannot stifle
Tamils beyond
the nautical limits
of the Sri Lankan island?