slumdog sabbatical

Photo by Sam Jean from Pexels

is it a vacation if you spend it in the pits?
time off swimming in sewers, splashing barefoot in dirty streets
— gutters gushing, flood waters overflowing and too frightened
to feel your face…
eyelids twitching
and overcome with grief
yeah, this isn’t work,
but it still makes you tired, still takes something out of you
in a bigger picture sort of way
I can’t help but feel I’m losing something
on this slumdog sabbatical —
someone rich might…