Better Dead Than Alive! Poem by Dr John Celes

A vulture sits behind a little boy,
Who squats for ‘Nature Calls’ amidst a field-
A village practice (without safe toilets) ,
And wonders if the kid’s alive or dead!

Mal-nourished grossly, looking ‘skin and bones’,
The child appears so sick, with weakened frame;
He struggles at defecation at noon!
The scorching summer sun adds to his woes!

A snake lies curled around the neck of boy!
The child looks blue as if bitten by it;
His naked body looks so very frail;
One wonders if he will complete his task.

The vulture could have mistaken the boy
For some kind of a beast about to die;
It waits to peck the frame if motionless;
’Tis all the same if boy is live or dead!

Such ghastly scenes are rife in poor countries,
Whose villages are poverty-stricken;
Where illiteracy, lack of hygiene,
Lack of good food- affects most of their young.

While affluence afills the posh cities,
Stark-nakedness stigmatizes suburbs;
How does a nation boast of great progress,
When kids by millions stay ravished and sick?

Is it man-made or scourge of wrath of Gods?
Blame ourselves for this sad state of affairs;
When ‘Big money’ goes down the drain always,
Why human kids stay starved, naked and sick?

Copyright by Dr John Celes 3-11-2008