Illustration: Khorshed Dubash

There was an old woman
Who lived in a shoe,
Her social security
Hadn’t come through.
The government told her
It had no more bread,
She whipped them all soundly
And sent them to bed.

The House That We Built

These are the citizens all forlorn,
Who heard politicians tooting their horns,
And judged the celebrity with their scorn,
When out of their greed his service was born;
Who embraced their Google,
That made them oogle,
Ignoring the clarion call of the bugle;
Who loved the market,
That capitalist target,
That wagged the dog,
Unwilling to slog,
Who encouraged the hog,
And the leadership fog,
That lived in the house that we built.