Children in the Light

walking behind the shops
in busy bustling Bangkok
I saw the faces of angels
lighted by a flickering flame
of a candle on a beer bottle

they patiently waited
as an older child divided
the roti in equal parts
they got a fist-full each
and they ate with delight

on a sidewalk of Manila
a little girl held a baby
holding out one hand
'please spare a coin
my brother is hungry'

'my mom was taken
by the Police
we don't know why
but they left us behind'
my coins were not enough

behind the bazaar of Jakarta
a boy was crying
his hands over his face
some bully just stamped
on rice, that was for his mother

'my mother is sick
she can't work anymore
my father left us
for another'
he just cried on

On the streets of Kuala Lumpur
looking up at big white tourists
they held out their hands
for change, just a sen or two
refugees from another country
but children all the same.


* children of the world are all the same, no matter what colour they are, or what language they speak...*