A Simple Job

What of the man in Fallujah
Reared in death
Nourished on hate
Who speaks the language of shrapnel
Incendiaries, metal jackets and serrated blades

Or the teenage girl in Thailand
Who stares at ceilings
Emotionless
And has become accustomed to the pain

The boy in Uganda
Orphaned by genocide
Seeking refuge
From hunger, poverty,
The memory of blood spilling
From the flesh
Of everyone he ever loved,
And the screams

In Burma, the mother
Lungs drowning
Skin blistering
Future positive
Who tears her heart to smile
For the children she knows
She will never see mature

In the states, the violated son
Of a violated race
Violated
Behind bars so constricting
He would rather hang up
Himself
Than fight to take another breath

The 40.3 million with HIV/AIDS

The 852 millions starving

The 1.2 billion living in poverty?

We must deal with our simple problems
And cry our simple tears
Enjoy our frivolous fancies
And our freedoms

Because if we don't
That life
Will not exist on this Earth