print previewback SAMYAK SHERTOK
Riflesong of a Dalit Comrade
You look at me & see only
the nightmilk of the barrel
before you saw kami
anvil beating the iron into sickle
you saw you shall not come near me
even dogs are allowed inside
I couldn’t touch the water
spout carved from the rock my ancestors broke
their backs carrying from the Kausiki
now you slaughter your fat goat
serve me basmati & dahl at the hearth
our home is your home
you say without meeting my eye
your mouth scythed
into a smile with hunger
I shine my rifle until it holds my face whole
the steel comma curled around my finger
a flash: a star: a pomegranate blossom
I have squeezed nothing
so tender
it outcasts my caste
bolt-action
look me in the eye
stop trying to kiss my blood-burnished boots
dalit with a rifle is a god
untouchable
behold my arm of fire
my only good arm
I sleep in its dark housing
with its muzzle I touch your throat 
In the Year of the Earth
King Vulture
Riflesong of a Dalit Comrade
A Small Talk