In a quaint urban house, which was in New South Wales,

Two young children's great boredom was right off the scales,

When they soon got a visit from Cat in the Hat,

Who would entertain both of them, right off the bat.

So with Mother and Father at work for the day,

Dr Seuss's fab feline was happy to play

With the children. He rhymed and he danced and he sang,

Bringing happiness. Later the front doorbell rang.

Then the Three Little Pigs came and knocked in the door,

Said, "We don't think this Cat ever lived here before.

So this must be a 'gathering'. Three's now a crowd.

Interaction like this is no longer allowed."

They arrested the Cat, saying "This quarantine

Is a necessary sanction for COVID-19."

But the Cat said, "Bolt News has an expert who blabs,

That they cooked this one up in the new Chinese labs.

And the model is flawed. People on Bondi Beach

Didn't catch it, despite half a day at arm's reach.

Calculatus Ill-fate-us would better predict

All the reasons this lockdown is really too strict.

Now to weaken a virus, you strengthen immunities.

And that just can't be done if you lock down communities,

And the people at home are deprived of fresh air.

You have let social media give you a scare.

I was visiting children with plenty to do,

As immunities grew in the spate of swine flu

In 2009, and there's more people croaking

Every year, since the government won't outlaw smoking."

So the Cat was in lockup, now stuck on his keister,

And the children were crying, "Which Grouch just stole Easter?"

Like our low level criminals, all of the rest

Of the world's people now faced three months' house arrest.

Always jumping at phantoms, and living by fear,

They surrendered their freedoms and all they held dear,

With their liberties taken away by the score,

And their privacies breached by the new martial law.

But it's hardly surprising. 2001

Saw protection mentality way overdone,

With the struggling rational mind growing wearier

From the uphill engagement with national hysteria.

All these laws would be too much for Star Bellied Sneetches,

Disproportionate punishment dished up for breaches,

As the leaders of nations tried too hard to win,

When they should have been sorry for nationwide sin.

They had glorified everything God had forbidden.

And by now every churchgoing Christian was hidden

From their services, all making ends meet online,

Lest a gathering earn them a whopping great fine.

And the Christian PM, still too slow to repent,

Made the folks walk off jobs. Last year's taxes were spent

While much less would be paid by this year's unemployed,

With recession ahead, at the end of the void.

Other children were dying from Gladys's laws

For abortion. God's judgements had obvious cause.

But the Cat wouldn't let his encouragement sink,

Since they still hadn't taken his power to think.

For no law could extinguish the freedom of thought,

Which remains in the mind, when the truth is still sought.

Dr Seuss asked, "So what was I scared of," in verse;

And since fear isn't faith, he had hit on the curse.