Shut Up And Trouble Poem by Raj Arumugam

Shut Up and Trouble
are good friends
and like to play
hide-and-seek till late ten

Well, here are Trouble and Shut Up.
Do you see them?
Trouble hides
and Shut Up goes to seek
and he searches high and low
and under the grass too
and behind others people’s homes
and at bus-stops and in street-corner bins
but nowhere can Shut Up find Trouble
though he searches high and low
and late even after ten -
and see now,
he is spotted outside the butcher’s
by Policeman Sometimes Vigilant


'Hey, you! ' shouts Policeman Sometimes Vigilant
'You there outside the butcher’s –
What’s your name? '

'Shut Up! '
answers Shut Up, very honestly

And Policeman Sometimes Vigilant
who also is sometimes angry
indeed gets very angry at this
and he asks another question:
'And what are you looking for
around here late this hour? '

'I’m looking for Trouble! ' comes the swift answer
for Shut Up has always been quick and to the point

And Policeman Sometimes Vigilant
arrests Shut Up and he says:
'Young Man, you’re coming with me
to the Police Station
and you’re spending the night in a cell'

'Oh, ' says Shut Up, thinking this is all a game
and looking quite pleased
'Are you saying Trouble is there waiting for me? '

'Yes! Yes! ' shouts Policeman Sometimes Vigilant
who sometimes also gets exasperated


And the moral of this story?
As if you can’t guess:
Parents should never name their child Trouble
even if Parents think that’s what their children are;
Parents should never name their child Shut Up
even if that’s what Parents wish their children would do…