"People"

Arti di wrote this post and it just reminded me of a similar poem I'd written a long time back.

"People"

It was a cold and misty night
Misty was the street and misty the streetlight
I cared not, but the wind had a bite
'Cause Dad was driving me to a party site.

We were passing through a lonely lane,
What I saw, people look at with disdain.
A young woman, crouched by the roadside,
With a little kid, trying to hide.

Her clothes were torn by usage for years
Her once-comely face blotched with tears.
Only some rags keeping out cold and her fears
The kid very pale for want of care,
She watching passers with a silent stare.

I watched for a moment, but it went to the heart,
As the headlight beamed, I saw her start
A gleam of hope came in her eyes,
Seeing the car pass, which changed to a sigh.

I recalled her face, its pallid hue
Why I couldn't forget her, I never knew
"What will she do, what will.."
I kept on thinking, till
"Time to step down," I heard Dad say
I walked to the party, all glitter and no gray.

There were lots of people there
Talking in groups or pair
Sounds of music and of laughter
Were seeming to ring the rafter.

I contrasted the image,
Same was their and that girl's age
Their clothes were 'torn' too, not with use,
But that was the latest rage!
Couldn't help noticing, the difference was so immense
Between the rich and the poor, so high a fence.

There is this disparity wall
A beggar with a tattered shawl
But people buying furs in a trendy mall...
Doesn't God hear the poor call?

Why this difference, what do you say?
I've wondered since that day.