The Soothsayers Poem by Rajendran Muthiah

The human predictors of fortunes
and the following misfortunes,
refer to some almanacs, blow the conch,
throw some cowrie shells or simply
rock in fury, drink the blood of cocks,
bite their tongues and beat themselves
with whips before predicting favours
or mishaps to topple the ship of life. 8

I mailed my question worth of
a million dollars to the fish, bear
and tiger which made correct predictions
about the US presidential poll.
" Will the queues before the ATMs
cease before the December last? "
was my question to test the skills
of these wonderful creations of God. 1 6

No one picks up pockets these days
In metro buses with the connivance
of conductors. No throat is slit for cash.
No offertory box touched. The purses
of the people who faced mid-term polls
swelled with invalid notes. My God!
The new notes have reached the hands
of the terrorists! Our soldiers need no ATMs! 24

The highway robbers who disappeared with
500 crores might have bought jewels of gold
and changed the black into white.
The criminals who were hiding, surrender
to the cops due to the cash crunch. How will the
rain fall, if the beggars also ignore the notes? 30