Fictional Representation

For years I read books consisting of characters with whom I could not identify

And even though I would sometimes laugh and cry

With those characters, a distance from them always remained

The world they inhabited was unfamiliar

The social structure of their lives different appeared

To place myself as a character in those stories was not

Something to which I could give plausible thought

*

The last two decades have witnessed the emergence of voices new

From the South Asian diaspora, and I have found a few

Characters in books with whom I can identify to some degree

Reading those books feels like a more intimate experience to me

*

Although I enjoy reading books with characters diverse

Finding someone like myself in the fictional universe

Gives me the representation that did not previously exist

Therefore a book by a South Asian author I never resist..