The Street Urchin

I saw a street urchin on the road today

Playing with a broken stick and a tyre

And I thought

How simple her world was

Not for her the mysteries of science

Nor the symphonies of Mozart

Not for her the halls of stone

We read about in books

To her our world is complex

She will never have a Facebook account

An d will be married off at sixteen

I will wake each day and go to office

Whilst she lives and loves

Stricken with poverty

Not for her the promise of education

Nor a world beyond the tea stall

Not for her lavish birthday parties

I return home at night with her on my mind

And I wonder

How we live in the same world

With worlds within

Each so starkly different from each other

The Bilge Master