By Rabindranath Tagore
If I wasn't your little boy,
but just a puppy-dog,
would you tell me off,
lest I tried to taste
rice from your dinner-plate?
Tell me truly,
don't trick me, Mum!
Would you say, "Off, off, off!
Whence has it come, this dog?"
Then go, Mum, go.
Let me get off your lap,
I won't eat from your hand,
I won't eat from your plate.
If I wasn't your boy,
but just a parrot, your pet,
would you chain me, Mum,
lest I should fly away?
Tell me truly,
don't trick me, Mum!
Would you say, "Wretched bird!
He wants to escape, does he?"
Then let me get off, Mum.
You don't have to love me any more.
I don't want to stay on your lap,
I'd rather go off to the forest.
From I Won't Let You Go: Selected Poems, translated by Ketaki Kushari Dyson (Bloodaxe, �12). To order a copy for �9.60 with free UK p&p call Guardian book service on 0330 333 6846 or go to guardian.co.uk/bookshop
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/08/poem-empathy-rabindranath-tagore
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