Of Rice and Rights

The price of rice is so high
My mom decided not to buy anymore.
But, how could I survive
Without any rice?
“Men shall not live by rice alone”
she preached sagely.
Right!
And I suppose I have to wait for the miraculous appearance of gunnysacks in my kitchen tonight.
My rabble-rousing cousin had another take on it.
“You are bitter about rice?
Get yourself some rights!”
“You can’t eat those,”
retorted by mom.
Age often breeds wisdom
And I should have listened to her.
Article 14 was hard to chew.
Tasteless and soaked in saliva,
I had a tough customer in my mouth.
In the end, a glass of water and a quick gulp
Was all it took to flush it down.
It didn’t seem all that bad.
So, I went in search of more rights.
I wasn’t disappointed.
There were plenty of those
And I could print an endless supply.
God bless the Internet!
Papa splashed a smirk
From the side of my hospital bed.
“You should have listened to your mother,”
the smirk seemed to say.

My cousin’s blog entry for that day read:
“He failed to digest what I said.”