Poets And Mendicants

When the bar at the level crossing falls, Vehicles line up and wait for clearance, The mendicants emerge from nowhere, And stretch out their palms for alms. A poet sitting in his car alone, waiting, Busy with his smart phone, quite absorbed, Is distracted by their unsightly deformity, Cleverly displayed for drawing sympathy. To avoid their repeated begging for alms, The poet throws a dime to the empty palm, And moves on when the train passes clear, Pondering, how he and they were similar! The beggars tried to impress the passers by, And did some acting to market their deformity. He tried to impress the woman he loved, With his poems and acting, to win her affability. Dhaka 04 March 2015 Copyright Reserved.