When I Am Gainfully Unemployed Poem by Raj Arumugam

When I am gainfully unemployed
When I am the king
and thus gainfully unemployed
I shall declare a day off from work
for every employed man and woman;
it shall not be a holiday
or a day of celebration;
but they shall be gathered in the public square
and half the day
these shall spend the time
on their knees
in gratitude for being employed;
and the other half,
they shall spend in the dungeons
for the year's thoughtlessness



(from The Migrant - notes of a newcomer (February 1997- July 1998))