Your Walls Have Killed my Father's Goat

-Sobhana Pramod

 On the passing of time and the change that comes along,    

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appa used to have a baby goat 

in older angamaly, back in the 80s  

when houses didn’t have concrete walls  

or metal fences  

just jasmine or roses or bougainvillea  

just green  

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appa used to take his baby goat grazing  

to these plants that  

separated (or held together) homes  

plants are a good way to  

separate (or hold together) homes, 

if you really think about it.  

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appa had to sell his goat to the butcher  

for tender meat for a foreigner’s wedding  

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he wasn’t upset about it,  

the goat had to be butchered anyway 

but he was sad he couldn’t keep another  

because they started to build walls  

and they painted it a dull grey 

and what a change it was from the green  

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and the goats had to go  

because goats don’t eat grey.