They Do Nothing

I saw a man sitting,
one day on the bus.
He looked tall and strong,
seemed like nothing was wrong.
Then came an old, old lady,
small and old and weak.
She was holding bags of groceries,
seemed like she needed a seat.
She stood in front of that man,
yet he did nothing.

The other day,
I saw this young school girl,
holding a donation can,
shouting “Come, save the world!”
she approached a woman who
looked like she could afford a dollar.
Despite sincere looks and pleadings,
she did nothing.

Once, while reading the newspaper
with large, bold headlines:
Poverty in Africa: WORSE!
Then I flipped to the next page,
reports on the rich and famous.
The cars they bought,
the latest fashion on them.
They know about poverty,
of course they do.
They know the helpless need help,
indeed they do.
Yet, they do nothing.

Yesterday, I watched the Discovery Channel.
It was showing documentary on Arab women.
How they were treated like slaves,
how they were not getting respect from men.
How many were killed and abused
for just speaking to a male fellow friend.
They called it:
Pride.
Reputation.
Gives them the right to murder?
Claimed that their religion justified it,
is it for real?
Their president claimed the
Government is helping.
But still they need the money,
for weapons, planes and bombs
the irony of it all:
To fight wars.
The women turned to them for help,
bruises and blood tricking down,
Yet, they do nothing.

So how is ‘help’ help?
Or ‘kindness’ kindness?
A ‘big heart’ big heart?
When the bottom line is:
they do nothing.

Jaime Wong
4H