Heed the Signs

The birds outside my window are still chirping
It is almost noon, but they are still out flying,
The noise from the daily bustle is missing
Nature's on display and it is heartening.

No one out and about is such a wonderful thing,
One hears the whisper of a butterfly's wings,
The squirrels pecking away, the crows cawing,
Listen, there is an orchestra unfolding.

We need more such days of unwinding,
May be that will lead to realising
No progress is worth this rush
Not if environment we crush.

Let's not forget the daily workers,
The sweepers, the chemists, the vendors,
The nurses and doctors, the transporters,
Let us make pay commensurate with labour.

Maids not coming makes one miserable,
So for her raise or leave no longer quibble.
Learning is important, not degree or money
Kanika Kapoor onwards stop celebrating idiocy.

All those foreign returned educated fools
Who would with paracetamol tricks temperatures cool,
Such selfishness proves you useless, spineless ignoramuses
Whose degree and money is not worth the paper printed.

Clang hands and pots and pans by all means
But also get them masks and other aids of hygiene,
Health can't be 1% of the GDP or your tax portfolio
Environment is more important than building statues or having the economy grow.

And every leader who said 'How can we?'
'What will happen to the economy?'
Well, now you know we can recover
Redefine at least now how we prosper.

Of humans we have 7 billion,
But Earth, we have just this one.
We need to think and act now, today
We need to commit to a slower, more rewarding pace.

Painted 22 Dec 2018

Photo Taken from Bedroom on 23 March 2020

#Janatacurfew #Coronavirus #Covid19 #Education #Progress #Nature #Health #environment #India

- Written on 22 March 2020.
- Self-explanatory.