---

I am a poor boy

For I have nothing to eat,

I’m hungry since four days

In this scorching summer heat.

I am a poor boy

For my dress is torn,

My parents are dead

Wish I weren’t born.

I am a poor boy

For I have no money

My only dream is to eat

Bread with honey.

I am a poor boy

For I sit and beg all day,

No one gives a penny

They just say “Go away”.

I am lean and weak

Can hardly walk,

Tears roll down my cheek,

I can hardly talk.

It’s now night time

I keep lying on the road,

Far away I can see a wedding house

With the couple’s names on the entrance board.

I somehow pick myself up

And walk towards the house,

I see people dressed like kings and queens,

I feel myself like a dirty mouse.

All the people look so happy

With plenty of food around,

I reached the kitchen back door

A huge dust bin I found.

I saw people throwing in the bin

Plenty of waste food

A ray of hope arose in me

“Food” is all I wooed.

I saw half eaten cookies

Pieces of bread and meat

All of these I wished to eat,

Oh! What a treat!

As I pulled out a piece of bread

And started to eat,

I heard someone yelling at me

“Thief! Thief! Catch him and beat!”

As I tried running and escaping

My prized bread fell on the ground

Those kings were still chasing me

At last a big well I found.

I hid behind the well

So the kings couldn’t see me

I hid there for the entire night

Stomach still empty.

I am a poor boy

For I’m dying hungry

Wonder why hunger exists

In a world of plenty.

As I weep through the wee hours of the night,

I fall unconscious and numb

No one cares to help or feed me

For I’m a poor boy from the slum.

As I slip into oblivion,

I hold on to just one dream

A day will come when I will eat

Bread with honey and cream.

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_{Poet’s note: In 2021 an estimated 698 million people, or 9% of the global population, are living in extreme poverty – that is, living on less than $1.90 a day. Over one-fifth of the global population live below the higher $3.20 poverty line (1,803 million people), and over two-fifths (3,293 million people) live below $5.50 a day. [Souce: Global poverty trend: devinit.org]}

Debbie Ghosh is a full time Auditor and Risk Consultant with a leading Big 4 organisation. However, she uses arts as a reflection of her inner state in the forms of music composition, poetry or painting. She believes that balancing your time between passion and profession brings in the much required sanctity of self.