Would You Care
Poem
A little princess floats aimlessly,
skiing from cloud to cloud. She watches
earthlings down below, busy chasing
trends.
Endless cycles to the ends
of the world.
Girls yearn to be stick thin supermodels
seen on magazines. Boys splurge
on protein powder, pump away muscles
soon to be six packs. Ladies change $20000 bags
like throwing disposable underwear, no hesitation.
Men toss money away in casino faster
than rain fall from heavens.
Kids of ages 3 and 4 pound away
on IPads, slash fruits like computer ninjas. Teenagers
refuse vegetables and fruits, only fast food
snacks. College students skip classes,
dance away, home works undone.
Grandmothers, jaded fingers turn noses away
from simple cuisines. Fathers wear gold chains, order
too much food, chuck the rest to bins.
Warlords smoke opium, change prostitutes
a norm. Small girls of 5 and 6 kidnapped, their innocence
slaughtered. Boys roam streets and slums,
hunt ‘useful’ garbage in exchange for rice.
Orphans carry guns, knives, fight, survival.
Babies cry for milk, days of forced fasting, not one cow
in sight. Thirty girls sit in scorching heat, open field
as no one care to build a school. A teacher gets
paid $1.00 a day.
Princess thinks it is funny how earthlings
live together. So many differences.
Fluffy clouds vanish. Princess wakes up to real life.
She wants no fancy satin dresses, posh
accessories or scrumptious food. She needs
no silky skin, fresh manicure or charming men.
Of all she sees from up above, she longs
for only one thing.
Clutching her one and only book
filled with stains of tears and pages torn
from long ago…
She hopes only to go to school
so she can pass on dignity and peace
to many who do not know.
Would you care?
more by ANGELINA BONG
photograph by Jordy Meow
