The Pageant of Human Depravity

An Adverse Commentary

Should the kids be unattended and the keys left in the car,
If the roof remains unmended and the bank vault door ajar;
When zips that should be zipped inflame the too easily shocked
But the self-appointed righteous are as frequently defrocked;
Do not call the folks elected to protect the family name:
It is something else entirely — Depravity's to blame!

When the guardians of your fortune have their hands stuck in the till
But the guardians of the guardians are more corrupted still;
When defenders of the faithful march undoubting to their fate
While those who give the orders are just fiddling with the State;
There's no shortage of derision for the hapless and the dim,
But the culprit is Depravity — no interloper him!

To those who fear authority just fills its treasure cup
And is loath to mete out justice when the help don't measure up;
When powers that be, undone by lies, succumb to their inanity
But those who would replace them are of questionable sanity;
Do not seek solutions elsewhere, don't pretend to be surprised:
Underestimate Depravity? It's distinctly ill-advised.

When j'accusers and recusers both appear about the same,
Neither saviors nor pursuers hardly worthy of the name;
When you can't distinguish any more the villains from the heroes
And the bottom line of human spine's an endless string of zeros;
Do not reach for tar and feather, do not grab a loaded gun:
Look no further than the mirror — Depravity's the one!

Apologies to T.S. Eliot, even though he is dead and would never had read this, anyway.