Bitterness of Poverty

by HieuDaoAdelaide, South Australia

Oct 2013 521 Views 5 comments

Bitterness of Poverty

Why do you cry?

That lady begging with her infant daughter; you dont know them?

So why cry for strangers?

Just people you pass by, it doesn't affect you, if they live or die?

I cry for her suffering, for I know the pain.
Although we are strangers, but circumstances and fate, experiences and life, make us play the game.

I understand the hardship of a mother, trying to raise a man.

Strangers they may be, yet they are family, under nationality.

A mother, An anuty, my sisters, or someones wife.

We wear the same skin, we speak the same tone; we are united together, we are Vietnamese.

So i shed these tears for the unlucky, crying for their pain; for the bitter taste of hunger and proverty, Vietnam, Australia; no matter where, it all taste the same.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Posted: Oct 2013

About this poem:

I saw while sight seeing Ho Chi Minh City at night; when there's less traffic; an old lady on the side of the road with tears running down her face. In her arms a bundle faintly crying. I imagine if that was me and my mother and an uncontrollable sadness came over me. So I gave her $10, which means food for her and her baby for at least a day. The next night I saw I same lady at the same place and again I gave her $10. The third night I saw her again, still crying and so was the bundle, this time as I got closer I realized that the infant under her arm was actually a toy! I was fooled.

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Comments (5)

fjamesj9701DunkinDonuts, Florida USAOct 23, 2013

Once again a powerful piece, thank you for sharing...Jesse

HieuDaoOPAdelaide, South Australia AustraliaOct 23, 2013

Thank you Jesse for reading and commenting again, appreciate it.

ZiusudraHernando, Florida USAOct 23, 2013

Having been homeless and having nothing in what was considered the richest country in the world I can relate to this. We see it but nobody wants to get involved.

HieuDaoOPAdelaide, South Australia AustraliaOct 23, 2013

I think cause some people are afraid of being troubled and don't want to get deter from their daily routines. Other people think that someone else will help, making themselves feel better for not leaning a hand and others just don't have the resources. So if the top 5% of the world population decided to collaborated together and support the needy, we wouldn't have so many under the poverty line nor children dying from starvation.

HieuDaoOPAdelaide, South Australia AustraliaOct 23, 2013

Ty beautiful you for reading and sharing. I can only hope that my peoples future and many in developing and third world nations can have a better life, where humanity and compassion goes side by side. New government policies takes time to fully be implemented and the basic survival instinct takes over, as people are force to fight over the same dollar.

I've been here in Vietnam for almost 3months now and have seen little compassion or love in a society where humanity is frown upon. Everyone is looking for a stable income in an economy that's unable to meet the overwhelming demand for new jobs. For many the main priority is to Feed and support their family, therefore some are Forced to accept lower wages by employers to secure jobs. If society and the government has abandon you to fend for yourself, your experiences makes you who you are, and shape the choices you make. So what if your experience shows you that you have been forgotten and no one cares if you live or die and sadly this is the case for many families in Vietnam.

They have a saying in Vietnam, 'if you feel sorry for the poor and needy, who's gonna feel sorry for you when you become poor and needy cause you gave all your money away?'.

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