It has been ever thus:
Some people get to tell
Others what to do
And if this is done
Without thought for the other
Then there is great suffering
Lockdown without notice means that
Thousands and thousands are
Stranded away from home
Some are trying to walk home
Hundreds of miles away
All you marathon runners
Think of them
Wish them Godspeed
Some have collapsed
From hunger
Outside Railway stations
Maybe they were supposed to practise
Social distancing
Along the railway tracks
And make it home that way
Fearful policemen are on the loose
Beating up anyone at hand
Fearful doctors treat
Fearful patients
Everyone and his brother have a theory
If there is no lockdown
Coronavirus will spread
So that thousands will be
Dying in the streets
If there is no lockdown
Indians will develop herd immunity
In times of crisis
The government has to trust
Its citizens
To do the right thing
But before that
The citizens have to
Trust their government
To do the right thing by them
In the meanwhile
A dysfunctional order
Has replaced Galbraith’s
Functioning Anarchy