I went to the Parliament fair,
The thugs and the thieves they were there,
A big buffoon, in broad daylight at noon,
Had taken the Speaker’s Chair.
The thugs and the thieves they did shout,
While throwing their weight about,
But others sat still and their time did fill
Making sure of the majority count.
The Speaker at last did appear –
The brave man he had nothing to fear.
Though around him they ranted and raved,
Behaving just like the depraved.
Books and chairs through the air did fly,
Chillie powder hit some in the eye,
The thieves ran away with the chair,
While the thugs fought on in despair.
The Speaker his work he got done,
With no interruption to their fun,
While the donkeys set loose in the well
Paved their own pathway to hell.
So that is the tale of the Parliament fair,
Which I thought I must with all of you share,
For now they say that it’s not what it seemed,
And maybe it’s only what I must have dreamed.
Image courtesy Lahiru Harshana/Associated Press, via The Washington Post
Founding Editor’s Note: Groundviews was launched in 2006 as a platform to capture and amplify resistance to the violent capture and retention of political power. Much of the platform is dedicated to and features serious writing. However, during the war and for around two years after, the most read, shared and engaged with content on this site came from Banyan News Reporters. Long before the wonderful NewsCurry, this trenchant satire served as an incisive critique of the Rajapaksa regime’s many excesses, nepotism, corruption & violence. As Dr Asanga Welikala reminds us, the “battle for the soul of a nation” must take forms other than just academic, legal debates. This poem joins a growing volume of content on Facebook and Twitter that targets President Maithripala Sirisena, Mahinda Rajapaksa and the SLPP for the unprecedented chaos they, in concert, unleashed on Sri Lanka.