But Of Course

But Of Course!

‘But of course!’, said the veiled terrorist,

Don’t you mistake me for a nihilist,

I work by the book, and what God does propose,

I listen, follow, blast, and dispose!

This time around, on the cards is something similar,

If you’re amongst the body count, well, all the more spectacular!

‘But of course!’, said the smiling minister,

We too have plans for the sinister.

But this time around, the plan was wrong,

They fooled us all, and we played along.

Next time you’ll see the plan get bigger and better,

We’ll catch them all, hook line and sinker!

‘But of course!’, said the leader, I too am tough,

And I will proclaim with fury; ‘we’ve had enough’,

But this time around, other pressures force,

And obligations arise, and veer me off course,

Just once more, let me sound like jelly,

I’ll be firm next time, just wait and see!

'But of course!' said the policeman,

I’m perennially prepared for action,

They say I’m stern, agile and dashing,

My cherubic convexity notwithstanding.

But when disaster struck, I was off duty,

So it really isn’t my fault, blame him, not me!

'But of course!' said the citizen,

I won’t let any such atrocities happen,

For scandals I expose, and leaders I denounce,

With startling venom their misdeeds I announce,

If an allegation was a penny, and a blame was a pound,

Wouldn’t millionaires in every Indian street be found?

'But of course!', said all of them in chorus,

We’re a good team, we forecast and we focus,

We plan and we execute, and we in virtue we outclass.

So blame the system not us, why are you so biased?

We have more plans to make, and duties to tend,

And the ravages of bygone disasters to mend!

Of all things in this country senseless and inane,

Of all things corrupt, rotten and profane,

Is the word system, and the use of it in vain,

As if it’s an entity, like the weather to transform,

From good to bad on its own, to fail and perform.

The system won’t change, so get ready for the next bomb!