Poor fig is just a lowly fruit,
But fig leaves earn reward;
They hid our shame in Paradise,
And now they hide our fraud.
Fig leaves from colonial laws
Help put away
Civil society terrorists
Intent to have their say.
Fig leaves from man-made homilies
Keep women-folk in trim;
Thus, order is sustained
In outer and inner realm.
Fig leaves from learned holy books
Help the low-caste know their place;
Fig leaves from favoured history books
Indict the invader race.
Fig leaves of Whatsapp currency
Help charlatans become saints;
Fig leaves cover all blemishes,
All diabolical taints.
Fig leaves from expert advice
Turn fiction into fact;
Fig leaves teach the dictator
How to seem a democrat.
So next you go to fruit market,
Dump the fig by the road,
But pick up all the leaves of fig
Your pocket can afford.
ZNetwork is funded solely through the generosity of its readers.
Donate