At four in the evening
I sat at the hotel
Having ordered the first food of the day.
20 Rupees,wet with sweat
Laid close to my heart-
Beating with pride and joy.
Full of myself,as I sat there waiting
Came to me a boy of half my age-
With nothing in him but starvation
No pride,just hope
Hollow hope waiting to be filled with food.
My fast beating heart slowed down to think
Pride and joy looked at each other
My day,My labour,My sweat
The waiter placed the food in front
And I pushed the plate to him.
I stood up and walked back
With a stomach filled with satisfaction
What better breakfast can I have?
Love,care and compassion for humankind
For their betterment I should devote my life
For my little brothers and sisters.
As my thoughts touched the sky
To earth I was brought back
By the boy who was my brother
I saw him harshly push aside,
A girl nearly half his age
All because she tried to take a piece from his plate.
Shocked I was
And my dream palace came down
My lips went dry
And my heart stopped for a while
As hunger crept back into me
I stood there stunned
Knowing well that
My stomach will remain unfilled.
You managed to convey something very profound in this poem... The inherent selfishness of Man when he fails to develop or has not yet developed a deeper sense of Awareness of himself and how that links him to all those around him... I cant find the words :P but you exposed a theme I have noticed for myself a long time ago (hungry you giving your food away to someone hungrier than you and that someone pushing away another yet more hungry than himself and thus showing that, beyond the metaphore itself, he failed to LEARN from your act of kindness) and which I think plays a part in the way the world still rests on chaos and constant pain/darkness.
ReplyDeleteWell... That is what I felt when reading your entry :)
Yeah...
ReplyDeleteI meant the emotional aspect.Giving love that is never passed on..