OF LOFTY MINDS (Week 9 Theme: Poverty)

The plaster from the walls was peeling off in layers,

They cupped their hands every morning, uttering words of soothsayers,

From the outside, they sported a calm veneer that hid words of prayers

The poor living bespoke magnificent souls that resided there in multilayers.

Always sporting a mind without fear and heads held high,

They disregarded their penury, thinking of better tomorrows with a sigh.

Shirking away the welling up of tears, when onlookers said, “Oh My!”,

The family led a life of self respect, and vowed “Here do we die.”

Wealth for the rich and misery for the needy are God-given,

Empathy for the latter only makes you a better soul – a fact well proven,

But realization only dawns upon us much later, at the hour eleven

Scriptures tell us – rich people go to hell, and the poor to heaven.

Even in poverty, if one lives in happiness, it’s a wealth supreme,

For happiness is the best ointment, surpassing glow of many creams.

One doesn’t have to live in riches to imbibe waters of the Hippocrene

For only in hardship, can one realize the fruits of one’s dreams.