Poem | Cockroach Redux

'From mischief shall I keep away/ Immerse myself in NEET/ My leaders I will aye obey/ Though ne’er will get a seat.'

Sep 06 2026

'From mischief shall I keep away/ Immerse myself in NEET/ My leaders I will aye obey/ Though ne’er will get a seat.'

Illustration: The Wire, with Canva.

How doth the little cocky roach

Nourish its fledgeling mind,

And cram it full with naxal soch

Which grips its vermin kind!

How fluently it hath learnt to cuss!

How choice the words it picks!

And bounces quick, with little fuss,

Its graphic verbal bricks!

In thought and speech and daily deed

I would be white as milk;

Though Satan will that I should need

The cockroach and its ilk.

From mischief shall I keep away,

Immerse myself in NEET;

My leaders I will aye obey

Though ne’er will get a seat.

S. Subramanian is an economist with a recently acquired side-interest in cockroaches.

This article went live on September sixth, two thousand twenty six, at twenty-seven minutes past seven in the evening.

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