Never Mind Her*

In a tenement home
She lives all alone
Where nobody
Seeks for to find her.

She has only bread

Maybe some soup to be fed
And goes to sleep hungry.
But, never mind her.

There are thousands like this

Perhaps millions on that list
But, no matter
Don’t think twice of her.

You’re going to be a star!

You’re bound to go far.
Tomorrow she dies
But forget her.

She’s an unfortunate lass

But your sorrow will pass
When you find you’re so much
Better than her.

Another will take her place
Another featureless face.
But you’re what’s important.
Never mind her.



* I suppose a few decades of working with tragic persons like the nameless woman in this poem has colored my perception of our "Great American Society." It has made me a cynic regarding our culture. But I know their names, the bridges they sleep beneath, and the hunger with which they live. You do no not have to cross oceans to find displaced, haunted and hungry people. Trust me on this.