(I feel like I really must compensate for the previous post... this poem is one of my favourites, because it has so many levels to it. It was the most mature poem I'd written at that relatively young age of 16.)
He was just a child,
Sitting by the lamp-post,
Crying his heart out.
No shoes on his feet,
Begging on the street,
Nowhere to play,
Nowhere to stay.
My heart went out to him.
I am a man of compassion,
I tell myself.
A good citizen,
A man with scruples,
A man of principle,
Who helps people in need,
A man fit to lead.
But I didn’t raise a finger to help.
I could give money to beggars,
I could lend things to my friends,
I would do favours to strangers;
But I could never make a sacrifice.
It is not enough to be nice;
Unless you can give up something special,
Helpfulness isn’t real,
And you’re just another hypocrite.
Blessed are the people,
Who are truly altruistic,
Who would give up something
That means the world to them,
If it would help someone
In genuine need.
Somehow, the good deed
Always finds its way back to them.
The last I heard
Of the orphaned child,
A neighbour adopted him,
Raised him as his own son.
And while this was done,
All I did was watch and say,
There are good people in the world today,
There really are people who are altruistic.
2 comments:
Thanks ra stubby... but it brings us no closer to the answer does it? How far would you or I go to help a person in need? There may not always be altruistic people around, and the world will continue to be a rotten place for many people.
Hmmmm... unity in diversity. I thought of helping her, too, but realized that she was better off doing it herself. If you recall, she reached the top by herself without any problems, while we were struggling and puffing and panting by the time we reached the top! Hehe... anyway, unlike you, if I don't help "the needy", its usually because I ask myself: if I'm helping this guy, why am I not helping that guy? So if I help every other person, I'll end up doing only that all my life. Better to donate to charitable organizations that have the manpower, the drive and the resources to do such work, rather than do things ourselves.
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