On Poverty (a poem)

A photo captured in Kolkata, India, en route between one location and another. Candid.

poverty

a state of mind

hesitating to subsist

luxuries are unnecessary

extravagant poverty

a disgusting display

of material waste

neural kneejerk

misfiring

indignant-borne frugality

even the air

is of unnatural quality

and the dirt

laced with debris

like a mirror

light facing

where the trash shall lay

in my eyes

where even a kleenex

isn’t worth it