Sol yet plays coy with leaden horizon
But there is enough magic
In dawn’s wan light
To illumine the contrast
Of ancient glory
Astride modern poverty
While camera and I
Find beauty in both
Tag: poverty
Come
This is not a place for the faint of culture
Or order
Or hygiene
Or poverty
Or order
Or hygiene
Or poverty
Nonetheless, they should come
This is not a place for those
Who dislike the crush of a crowd
Who want a fresh coat of paint
Or a breath of fresh air
Nonetheless, they should come
This is not a place for those who believe
That people’s conditions reflect their choices
That there is one right way to live
Or one way to think
Nonetheless, come
This is not the place for them
Because their cherished values
Will be confronted
Every moment of every day
And that is why
You should come
Because this scene is neither
Remarkable nor unusual
It is mundane
Everyday
Most of the world’s people
Your brothers and sisters
Live out their lives
In scenes like this one
Or what you would consider to be
Much much worse
Scenes which appear
Dirty
Unkempt
Dilapidated
But if you don’t come
If you don’t spend quality time
With your human family
In their homes
You may never learn
The true beauty of this scene
And all the people in it
Nonetheless, they deserve better
From those of us
Who assume we have better
Because we are better
In no small measure
We have better
Because we’ve bettered them
But are superior in no other way
Than an accident of natal geography
It’s easier to see that
If you come
So if you are enabled
By conditions of privilege
To travel internationally
Privilege built in part on their poverty
You should come
Hollowed Halls
Beneath the stone of arcing hollow
Echo footfalls of the hallows
Seep through time long silenced whispers
Fall on ears inclined to listen
Echo footfalls of the hallows
Seep through time long silenced whispers
Fall on ears inclined to listen
Bishops under Cardinals
Princes of the capital
Too all manner of celebrity
Still I prefer simplicity
Whose condition leaves them most to gain
While every pittance rendered unto greedy hand
Far too much where hope of sustenance is lain
Yet they, it ever seems, offer most without demand
It’s none of these I see today
By price of entry held at bay
Once was the time when pews were filled
By those allowed the least of say
The Gate
Closed and locked
By gate obscured
As well as blocked
By gate obscured
As well as blocked
While I
Outside
Peer through the gaps
At what I could never have
While those
Inside
Lead a life
Purposefully removed
From the gate’s other side
Making America Hate (Again)
This broken web
This strife
This hurtful anger
Which raises some
By lowering many
This strife
This hurtful anger
Which raises some
By lowering many
This fear
This anguish
This mounting dread
That things will never be
As things never were
Except in the cheap dream
Sold to those
Who want more
Than they’ve
Ever
Given
Learning Humility
I walked through the world
With a mighty swagger
Until humiliation
Taught me humility
Until poverty
Taught me what to value
Until failure
Taught me grace
With a mighty swagger
Until humiliation
Taught me humility
Until poverty
Taught me what to value
Until failure
Taught me grace
Now I walk with a gentle deference
Listen, when I might have spoken
Forgive, when I might have challenged
Let go, when I might have held on
Fading Glitter
The fading remnants of day
Glitter on the horizon
Skyline silhouette under a golden sky
Beyond the great western harbour
Glitter on the horizon
Skyline silhouette under a golden sky
Beyond the great western harbour
I came here
Enthralled
Thirty-five years ago
Wide-eyed country boy
Glass and steel
In perfect lines
Rose above
The waters tread by commerce
How little I need
On a drive
Through the beautiful mountains
Of a third-world country
Through the beautiful mountains
Of a third-world country
I visited
Many towns and villages
Where people lived in what I called poverty
The more I drove
The more I realized how much I have
But how little of it I need
Barren Branches
In the blue calm twilight
Of a winter’s day
The scraggle of barren branches
Reminds me
Of a winter’s day
The scraggle of barren branches
Reminds me
Of hardscrabble lives
For creatures without fire, food and shelter
And the human beings who cannot afford them
Smart phones and donkey carts
I live in a world
Of smartphones and donkey carts
Of poverty I have known
And poverty I cannot imagine
Of wealth I have known
And wealth I cannot fathom
Of smartphones and donkey carts
Of poverty I have known
And poverty I cannot imagine
Of wealth I have known
And wealth I cannot fathom
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