Smart City

Build me a smart city that borders the seas,

By Malabar Hill where there’s plenty of breeze.

Where flowers grow on uncluttered streets,

And single-screen theatres play old movies.

Build me a walled city that’s free of crime,

Where no one slumbers on avenues of slime.

Appoint a policeman who is honest and smart,

Who won’t bend down to robbers and farts!

Build me a city where people don’t roam aimlessly,

And, work on jobs around the corner, yes, seriously!

Two bedrooms, hall, and kitchen would do fine,

To spend insomniac nights of lying supine.

Build me a city where cell phones don't rob sleep,

Where friendships are real and grudges don't keep.

Where friends, wherever they are, return urgent calls,

And, aren't just smirking pictures on walls.

Build me a city where Internet and wi-fi are free,

There’s no need to pay income tax or parking fee.

Where media is not always breaking false news

And ad jingles don't turn ear worm and confuse.

Build me a city where nights are not darkness wrapped,

Where women are unmolested and girls unraped.

Where homeless people can sleep in night shelter,

Where smiles are warm and free is laughter.

Build me a city where men don’t dart into hellholes,

To biometric systems and cubicles without souls.

Then train-compressed commute to their tiny flats,

To canned laughter and inane dramatic plots.

Build me a city where rain doesn’t lives disrupt,

Where sewage doesn’t overflow and streets are swept.

Where a man can lay his tired head on a bed,

And say, “Oh, it was a bad, but you will always be loved.”