Bearing the Weight of the Poor
I carry them with me always
Visions of their smiles haunt me
Blackness marks the sickness that consumes their flesh,
their ears, their nose their fingers, their legs
I saw them at Nago
The stench, the smile, the humanity being ate alive
I carry them with me always
I weep because they are treated as less than animals
Clawing at the refuse of the city
with a sharp hooked rod
a hungry human being eats food from the smoldering dump
a child who will never learn to read
a child enduring boils and flies
I carry him with me always
I never gave him enough
a man with a board on coasters using his gloved hands to push his self along
reaching up he asks for a coin
looking down I empty my pocket
I carry her with me always
She could have been a girl in my High School
Her youth and beauty fade each year
She remembers her children shot in a clash between warring factions
Her son by an unknown wretch holds her hand
She is for sale nightly
a numbered tag replaces her name
I carry them with me always
Their fragile lives bring tears to my eyes
Little children with their hands held out
Playing with tires
Feet without shoes
Laughing at their growling stomach
I carry them with me always
I see the emptiness in their souls
A cupped hand, a swelled pocket, floating eyes
With sleight of hand they sniff quickly
Glue eats their brains
Stunts their growth
They chose to escape an uninhabitable world
I carry her with me always
She haunts my dreams
Unkempt hair, a tattered dress,
an exhausted child nursing at her dry breast
My alms could not bring her smile
I carry them all and many more
They have become a part of my soul
They are the reason I speak
They are the reason I don’t like your hiding place called church
