Title: A Reasonable Complaint Poem by ashok jadhav

(The speaker addresses an empty space, as if arguing with the universe itself. A dry, almost amused bitterness undercuts the pain.)
Monologue:
Explain this to me—
why the world insists on rules
it never follows itself.
Work hard, be kind, wait your turn—
and then chance strolls in, careless,
undoing years with a shrug.
We are born without consent,
taught to hope without guarantees,
and punished for expecting fairness
from a system that thrives on indifference.
Tell me—what part of this is supposed to make sense?
(A short, humorless laugh.)
The cruelest joke is consciousness.
To know enough to question,
but never enough to answer.
We understand suffering intimately,
yet are told it builds character—
as if pain were a favor.
I have watched goodness go unrewarded
and cruelty prosper politely.
I have seen random mercy mistaken for meaning,
as though survival itself were proof of virtue.
If this is justice, it has a strange sense of humor.
(Pauses, voice lowering.)
And still… here I stand.
Not because I believe it will get better,
but because rebellion can be quiet.
To live, to laugh, to care—
in a universe that offers no reason—
that may be the only defiance available to us.
So go on, world.
Be unfair. Be absurd. Be cruel.
I will not pretend you are kind.
But I will exist anyway.
And that, perhaps, is the punchline you didn't expect.
(The speaker meets the silence without apology.)