LakeSide Dog

1. A dog, I saw, sitting by the lake's side,
looking upon waters
The morning was still fresh, cool, and fish
hadn't begun to stir
He sat still, his back to the joggers,
not heeding to the yapping of other dogs,
from the distant street

2. A human expression, I saw, on his face,
contemplative
What was he contemplating?
Or was he just drinking in
the cool silence after the Diwali night
of cracker blasts?

3. Or was he contemplating,
by the lakeside, under the leaning tree,
surrounded by jungle of high-rises,
the thousand-year old memories -- stored in the genes--
of the hunter's life in the human-less wild?

4. Or, he was just not contemplating, not thinking of anything at all,
before another hot day in search of food began?

5. Or, did he sit there, still, his tail not stirring,
his back to the world,
because, he thought, I am special,
among the street-dogs?