[Poem] Don’t Talk to Me of Rising Intolerance

Don’t talk to me of rising intolerance

A word I hear repeatedly only from

Elite Lips

Lips that get food served

In royal style

By many toiling hands

So you can rave and rant all day

To pass the time

In fighting

A causeless cause

Feeding your inherent need

To pamper an ego diseased



Don’t talk to me of rising intolerance

Your childish tantrums are much tolerated

Don’t threaten to leave

Those with intent

Rarely flaunt the thought

Stay you certainly will

Save yourself the shame

Where else would you get your money and fame?



Don’t talk to me of rising intolerance

Returning your awards

Perhaps in your heart of hearts

You find yourselves

Undeserving?



Don’t talk to me of rising intolerance

My house needs cleaning

The light bulb needs fixing

Clothes need mending and washing

Children have to be readied and sent to school

In public buses and trains …



A million men and women

Wake up every day

And set to work

So life on the street feels ok

Tolerant smiles everywhere

Tolerant speech and tolerant acts



But

There should be a growing intolerance

For the filth in the streets

And

The corruption that bleeds

But would you dirty your hands with garbage disposal?

Isn’t it a lot easier

To badmouth the government in power



If you can’t clean the streets

At least clean your hearts and heads

Of the grime bilge and slime



Don’t talk to me of rising intolerance

For tolerance too

Has a limit on how much it can tolerate