Thou shalt not break the “Ten By-law Commandments”

Image: Paramount Pictures

by

Basil Khouri

To city counsellors everywhere
And dear beloved mayors,
Shepherds in the fields of the cities
With the taxi flock under your care.

You gave us the Ten By-law Commandments
On tablets of stone you set the rules
Saying “A taxi plate, meter and roof sign
These will be your tools.”

You put a brand on our side
Which no one could imitate
So no wolf in sheep’s clothing
The pen could infiltrate.

So we grazed in the city meadows
Not fearing any attacks
Knowing that the city shepherds
Will watch our backs.

For many years
All was going well
We paid the temple tax
And taxi plates we’d buy and sell.

We mortgaged our houses
And leased our cars
Knowing we could pay it back
And not be put behind bars.

When along came the uber wolves
Attacking with their ride sharing app
The city shepherds laid down their staff
Waving the white flag, they began to clap.

The wolves worm their way in
Through an Apple phone
The city shepherds take a bite
And then changed their tone.

The city shepherds bite the Apple
And the poison runs deep
A watchful eye over the flock
They will no longer keep.

The city shepherds are drunk with fever
As they rock in the by-law boat
Someone call 911
And give the antidote.

The Pharisee shepherds gave us the ten commandments
But now they break their own rules
Like cat and mouse they toy with our lives
Taking us for fools

The uber wolves are parasites
From the flock sucking blood money
They channel through veins of corruption
Not paying the temple tax, it flows to another country.

They bake a “fare” cake
And the cost is half
“Now the sheep cannot compete”
The wolves loudly laugh.

Then to the cake
They add a little icing
The customer can have a slice

at ten times the price
And they call it “surge pricing”

The uber wolves now in control
At the flock they rip and tear
Saying “The sheep are now scattered
To this kingdom we are now heir.”

Our jobs and the taxi plate price
Is the bounty set on our heads
Dead or alive
No tears they shed

We plead to Caesar “rid the land of these beasts
The flock has had enough”
No matter what they tell us
The sheep will not lie down with the wolf

*****

Written with great concern for my Taxi brothers,

Basil Khouri