When the sparrows left
No one noticed
When the sparrows left
It was just another
smoggy winter morning
People drove their cars
dropped their children off
At air conditioned schools
Where they learned
Pollution is a bad thing
It was just another
smoggy winter morning
And stuck on flyovers
No one noticed
That they spent more time on roads
Than with family and friends
So the city of traders
Traded its sparrows,
for SUVs
And children’s lungs
for Diwali firecrackers
Pollution was good for business
And as a million bonfires
lit up in Punjab and Haryana
Delhi bought air purifiers,
masks, cough syrup
and tweeted in anger
But it all started
On a smoggy winter morning
When the last sparrow left
No one noticed,
As that ever useful smog
Hid us from our conscience
-Author Unknown
