Look Away

By Vijay Kumar

Look away 

For you don’t have it in you

Look away 

For you may have to see the truth 

To endure the pain of this man   

As he stands on the street

Outside a hospice

Miserable, 

Hungry, penniless, gaunt

His dying son at his feet

A father unable to earn his keep 

A hungry son he couldn’t feed

A son he’d hoped 

Will grow to share his load

Falls fatally ill, 

Now deathly still

A son whose eyes are vacant now      

Unaware of the exertions 

To revive him somehow

His son, a part of him

His life adrift, now slips away        

The cries of torment within 

Betrayed by a stifled sob 

In silence, his tears flow

Wiped by his gnarly hands

More follow down his hollowed cheeks     

Unable to entreat   

He’s yet to ask for (beg)

Now, none can return his son

What good now, an alm or two

His son he’d like to follow

Bring a quick end to his sorrow   

His crucible of life

Has been a mischance 

Not the high life

Of poetry and romance

Look away 

For there’s nothing left to be done

Look away, 

For there are many dying, uncared, unsung

By Vijay Kumar