Thieves! Thieves!!

Thieves (Sorry, I don't mean any offense)!

They are such wonderful creatures!

Few other professions possess such romance!

Perhaps none other holds such pleasures!

They adorn the world everywhere

And in all ages of human history

Many are gone and lost in oblivion

Quite a few survive in magnificent memory

Quite many are glorified in haughty hymns

For the perfection they achieved in this art

While many preferred to remain unknown

For secrecy in this job is a valued part

People say all thieves are caught some time

To suffer the retribution of their crime

Nay, quite many live a thief and die as well

Without being traced for their acts sublime!

They can sprint like the Indian cheetah

 Like the sharp-eyed eagle in the sky soar

Jump over walls like the wily witch’s cat

And swim like salmons across a river’s roar

Robust doors don’t stop them a minute

Locks and safes docilely to them yield

 Kings of roads, princes of lanes and streets

Cities and villages all are their playfield

These charming artists begin their day’s work

When night’s blanket fall on the earth

When the sleepers snore in blanket’s warmth

And it’s time to rest also for the hearth

Many of them break the law happily

To follow the profession they love so

While many of them need offend none

They so well make a handmaid of the law

Some recline regally on the mattress of money

They've appropriated from the unfortunate

And point accusing finger on honest souls

Outrageous, wouldn’t you think in any state!

As the sun and the moon move in the firmament

Just as the oldest one this profession thrives

The God in heaven looks on the beautiful earth

While damning damaging doggedly the Devil drives!

Xavier Bage

Sat, Jan 16, 2016