Little Feet

Little Feet gaily rattled the empty vessel
She is but a tiny four-year-old
Hunger would storm its way soon
And her gay face would scrunch in tears

Mother o Mother why did you leave her
Begging on the streets and prancing in the traffic
Her legs hurt and her lungs reek of dust
She is but a tiny four-year-old

A Merc springs on the road with its shiny pate
Little feet knocks at the window for some loose change
The driver is appalled, no money for children he says
It is a vicious cycle of bondage

Little Feet, too little to understand bondage and greed
For her, hunger is a mighty beast
Her keeper would arrive with a promise of a beating
For her plate was empty of any offerings

A pitiful life and pitiful living,
Little Feet is one of the many little ones
Whose lives are held at ransom
By men of vices and women of greed

My heart aches for Little Feet
I buy her balloons on some days
I have decided against offering money
For I agree it perpetuates bondage

On some dark nights, I sigh and cry
Rant at the vicious injustices of life
The boundaries of greed and avarice are none
For they feed mightily on the innocence of the meek