Parents Deserted Poem by DOMINIC K V

Stunned by reports in newspapers
Parents in eighties and nineties
needing bed rest and medication
admitted in hospitals by children
When asked to pay medicine bills
desert them and disappear for ever
Some are dropped on roadsides
Some even in thick forests
lonesome and prey for wild animals
How can offspring be so ungrateful!
Bore them for nine months in womb
Breastfed for a year or more
Turned blood to sweat and even starving
nurtured with food, clothes and education
Sought hard for their employment
Found suitable partners for their marriage
Looked after their tots
when they went for work
Old and weak when such parents
need support from their children
how can they be treated as burden?
How can they be spat out like curry leaves?
Deserting them is like selling cattle
when they are old and useless
to the slaughterhouses of Kerala
Beware! Life is a vicious cycle
Today's children tomorrow's parents!