My daughter is studying in Thailand. She recently traveled to Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries. She is an avid photographer and has sent me many photographs from that part of the world. Abject poverty, child prostitution, land mines, and other problems have plagued these countries for many decades. One of the photographs had such a profound effect on me that I decided to put my sentiments in a short poem.
Three and a half pairs of lifeless legs
Are propped up against a long rickety wooden table
In the middle of the woods
A one-legged little girl
With an innocent mien
Limps along
Stops
And with a faded smile
Gazes timidly to one side
Boys playing around the table
Mangled up by landmines
Are as rowdy as sailors
They are happy
They are children