Condemned Alleys Fading Stars

On rare pensive moments when one contemplates on the vagaries of human existence
Fleeting thoughts and images flash with persistence

You stop the car at the traffic lights an emaciated maimed hand knocks at the window
With irritation writ large on your face and harsh words you glare at the mutilated wreck
Admonish the waif and scrutinize the window pane for an invisible speck
Never to ponder whether the disfigurement was natural or a brutal imposition
The coercion and agony during the process hastened to serve a vile commission
The vacant look the dumb lips must have spoken million words lost to your communication

An entourage complete children nanny and pet head for the urban park you follow lovingly
Footsteps arrested you frown at your child’s curiosity at the urchins scrounging the bin hungrily
With stern instructions and unwanted vehemence you drag him away from the scum
Never does it occur that the motley crowd may not be the product of the slum
Loved and cherished in the yester days whose unfortunate disappearance is still deeply mourned
The loved ones are wasting for their glimpse praying fervently for their return cursing the abductors

A nudge in a busy market place an insistent tug a thrust of a begging bowl
A blind mendicant led by a scrawny girl a picture complete on the whole
An abandoned helpless mother surrounded by her wailing brood begs for sustenance
Ever wondered how many mothers must have been deprived to create such scenes of sufferance
These wretched destitute scattered way beyond our gaze and imagination
Too are priceless gems uncut and unpolished to be picked and taken in consideration

Orphaned or abandoned? Exploited or manipulated? Runaways or refugees?
All caught in the nexus of human traffickers and law enforcers
Indispensable part of a vicious cycle a link of an unbroken chain
Despised and scorned duped by hollow assurances and deceiving refrain
The stigmatized lot forsaken and deprived crave for an identity
No affluence or opulence just some recognition and dignity

At the periphery of our comfort zone seek admission
To shed inhibitions and carve a humble acceptance
Do they have the liberty and permission?

~By: Veena Umesh Sood`
Images: Pinterest