Free Eyeglasses Poem by Raj Dronamraju

Pairs of eyeglasses on a table in a secondhand shop
Watch the homeless and the retirees try on the eyeglasses trying to find a pair that matches their vision

And if I had more than three dollars on my person
I'd just buy all those sunglasses and the table they are displayed upon
And give them away on the street to those who need them and couldn't afford them

But instead a percentage of the money I earn buys bullets, underwrites US installed autocrats, outfits battleships

Watch a grizzled couple count change for black bifocals
And know what is real here is the selfishness of empire and how it trickles down into an attitude of "what is mine"
And not an attitude of helping those who might need it