I Think of the Poor Kid

People these days buy a lot.

Disposable money, online shopping,

home delivery, everything comes easily.

Among other things,

cute kids’ dresses pile up.

Kids grow fast,

the clothes get small.

Today my spouse found in the closet

an almost new fleece sweater

with a beautiful fox and bear picture.

Alas, it did not fit our little son.

I wanted to give it to somebody

who would truly use it,

but I have no relatives,

no friends, no acquaintances here.

Nobody needs such gifts where I live,

everyone has their own abundance.

So, in my memory, I go back 30 years

to my childhood place in rural India.

Our poor widow-maid used to bring her little son

as she came early morning, to wash utensils

and sweep and clean the barn.

The little boy, shivering in the cold,

was wearing a torn shirt,

sitting in the corner,

munching happily on the leftover roti

and ripe garden guava

my mother gave him.

I think of that unprivileged kid

Why did that kid have nothing to wear,

though he surely needed,

and here I am looking for someone

to give away this beautiful sweater?

This is an unfair world,

a world of supply–demand mismatch.

And that makes me very sad.