If Molly
doesn’t like her ice lolly,
Or if her poodle
can’t eat his noodles,
If Pete
doesn’t like his house neat,
Or if his plane
doesn’t fly in a lane,

If Nancy
doesn’t like anything fancy,
Or if her foot-stool
doesn’t look cool,
If Dwight
isn’t always right,
Or his bubble head
is not painted red,

If Mr. White
can’t fly a kite,
Into a sky
up above so high,
If Michael
can’t ride a bicycle,
Or win a medal
for rocking a pedal,

If Alice
doesn’t drink from a chalice,
Or if the way she plays the flute
isn’t cute,
If Jim
doesn’t work on a whim,
Or if his love
doesn’t fly like a dove,

If Katelyn
doesn’t have a mate who’s Lyn,
Or if her dog
can’t see through the fog,
If Charles
doesn’t like when someone snarls,
Or his daughter
doesn’t like drinking water,

What use is poetry?

Shaurya Arya-Kanojia authored his debut novella, End of the Rope (https://amzn.in/eZ0EUss), last year. He is also part of the editorial team of Ayaskala literary magazine. He loves sports (cricket, mostly), eating out, and watching reruns of The Office and Everybody Loves Raymond.