Greetings from the Land of Enchantment

six children died this weekend--a poem

Six children died today
In an apartment fire
Cause cited by the fire department: misuse of a candle
True cause: poverty.

The neighbors noted that the power
Had been out for over a month
But there was nothing romantic
About the dim lights and the sweltering heat

There is no poetry
In this kind of poverty
The only thing to trickle down
In this tenement was the sweat on a mother’s brow

Six children, now ghosts
Promises made and broken
The war on poverty
Nothing but a token

To cover up time and money
Spent killing children
In other countries
In the name of security

& for the sake of power
false stakes are claimed
lies and conceit--games
played for patronage and prestige

While a mother lives
For the remainder of her days
With ghosts and shadows
The flicker of candles

posted by Sat Purkh Kaur Khalsa @ 10:47 AM