Contrasting Worlds

A poet looking at the sky at night,

a boxer looking for his next fight.

A starlet looking at her own face,

a padre looking for a state of grace.

In a village in Sudan,

a young girl is raped

for being the wrong ethnicity.

A model looking at her new style,

a mother looking for her baby’s smile.

A banker looking at one more gain,

a farmer looking for a sign of rain.

In a squalid house in London,

an old lady dies of malnutrition

when shit happens in a lonely world.

A super-stud looking at his new lay,

a father looking for his next pay.

A student looking at her first loan,

a couple looking for a house to own.

In a back street in New York,

a cool kid pumps poison through his veins

to see those swirling colours change.

A grandma looking at her new perm,

a politician looking for one more term.

A zealot looking at a cause to die,

a sad girl looking for a place to cry.

In a hotel room in Bangkok,

a tiny boy is sold to a paedophile

for the price of his siblings’ supper.

A sportsman looking at his next goal,

a gay man looking for a kindred soul.

A drunkard looking at one more drink,

a scientist looking for a final link.

In a gutter in Mumbai,

a small child settles down for the night

while the rest of us try to get stoned.