TELL ME WHY
Tell me why
    the poor are so poor
    and the rich so rich

 Tell me why
    they barely have a morsal to eat and for more pine
    and they get more than a sandwich and wine

 Tell me why
    they hide their skin in tattered ribbons
    and they reveal bodies in the name of fashion

 Tell me why
    they defy the elements under a plastic sheet
    and they dwell in mansions with central heat

 Tell me why
    they die without diagnosis and medicines
    and they of drug overdose and abuse

 Tell me why
    they sell off donated chalk, slates, books
    and they carry a donkey's load on their backs

 Tell me why
    their daughters leave homes in rags with no seams
    and theirs with trousseaus fit for queens

 Tell me why
    they go to the graves minus a shroud - yet unseen
    and they are covered with garlands decorated and
    gift wrapped for Gods in teak-wood boxes.

 Please tell me why.........

~Vinita Sinha Ganesh~

More Poems By Vinita   

Kavitanjali