THE ROAD OF SHAME

A weekend afternoon,
And we were out on a walk,
Three friends,
Without a care,
Chatting leisurely,
As my eyes fell on a woman,
In an old, tattered saree,
With a child in her arms,
Who as I looked on,
Dropped a piece of bread.

I cringed
At the lack of hygiene,
Watching her pick it up,
Hand it back to the boy
Who devoured it hungrily,
Without seeming to bite it,
And another thought replaced my disgust,
I understood,
That was the only morsel she had.

Half listening to my friends
Who had not noticed,
I felt the empty chocolate wrapper
Lying in my pocket,
Remembered the popcorn
I had eaten yesterday,
And the movie I spent
A hundred bucks on,
When I could have done without it.

They were fleeting thoughts,
Tiny flashes,
Soon erased by my friend's voice,
Lost in words,
Perhaps to be remembered later,
In a similar setting,
With eyes on another child,
Or in the queue for movie tickets,
Another worthless walk
Down the road of shame...

~ Rahul Misra ~

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