Pigeons by Sanjeev Sethi

Pigeons have no tenancy laws.

She placed her squabs on my sill.

When I protested, she gazed at me

with looks which were a hybrid

of hesitancy and hostility.

At night, the pigeons cooed.

Throughout the day,

the exhalation of their excreta

wafted across the apartment.

During feed-time, their twitter

was louder than church bells

annunciating crisis. But I was helpless...

Soon I decided — to be kind to myself,

I had to be cruel.

I opted to evict them.

But there are no courts for this.

No legal machinery.

Only feelings.

Feelings have always failed me.