Rotten Tomatoes Poem by Irfan Afzal

A juggling jack had learnt it well
to turn and toss and twist and tell
in weighty words and techno terms
what numbers rose, what prices fell.

One day after a juggling show
when he was almost set to go
a joking newsman asked him: ‘Sir
what is the price of tomato? '

He swayed and bent a little low
displayed a nervous, callous show
and then he said: ‘It's seventeen; '
which gave the man a bombshell blow

who went to markets big and small
to check if it was true at all.
But all he got was angry snub
from grocers and the street fruit stall.

His fruitless quest at last he quit
and cursed himself for lack of wit
to find a rotten bag of them
placed well in kitchen cabinet.