Useless Bastards Comments

I tried to 'edit' the poem, but it is just not working.. So, here is a properly revised version of the poem - *** 'Slick, and wonderfully crafted The world works in mysterious ways Riches, become more rich and the poor sway away. Here in the dreams of the boy living in slums The corporationals sell pizzas in a fancy resturant Where his mum's parathas lose their magic Murdered hopes, Mutilated daydreams at night Their bodies are wet in dew A car runs over them along the footpath. The dog and the child with a torn, black shirt No one mourns their death Let the mercedes crush the innocent daydreams at night Let the poor beg at stations We are as blind as the child who was blinded with acid To become the beggar that will supply money for drugs.' *** I had made some grammatical mistakes as well as wrote a few lines whose meaning (to use a very light phrase) was vague.. Pamela 'Pam' Sinicrope helped me to fix the pathetic errors.. And as I have said before, I will say again, she is a life-saver for me! ! Thanks Pam :)

Yes, the poor sway away. Nice work.

Misery of a poor man's existence is depicted with a feeling of compassion n empathy here. A realistic view of the world where might is right. The title of the poem is sarcastic n cynical but not off the mark because that's how the world views a poor miserable man.

Money is just the medium of exchange yet people run after it and hoard as if they will carry it to the next world without giving heed to others, they take it as a pride and possess it as much as possible to show others their M-Power. The sad part of the society is well unfolded in your poem where rich and poor both are after money one to show-off and other to survive and live..... Let the better sense prevail and let empathy enter their body making them humble being....Thought Provoking poem.

About the title: why offensive? You have not used ''Bastards'' as an insult. The context is important, isn't it? No problem to use your title in the book.

Souren, you haven't written the title, when sending the poem to the Forum. Is it because you prefer not to use it? - Or you just forgot... ;)

when you've written to me saying words like: - ''.. help me understand if the poem has enough merit to be sent in..'' - ''.. I have apparently, did not follow the Oxfam report too strictly..'' I had thought that the metaphoric 'exposure' of your poem could be overwhelming, letting too little ground to the reader to speak of ''Poetry of Witness''. But it is not. Your poem is a very good example of what the subject of our new editorial project is (''Inequality'') . Very good, dear friend! Send it!

This is how things are.... the gross divide between the rich and the poor is appalling! While the rich splurge money in luxury, the poor wallow in filth and misery! The death of a homeless vagabond or a street urchin raises no more concern than that of a street dog. Your moral indignation is powerfully presented. When you get time, read my poem Double Face where I raise the same issue!

I just saw a report that said the top 67 richest people in the world have more money than the bottom 3.5 billion poorest combined. Bastards is too kind of a description. Excellent poem, Souren. Thank you

Starvation, deficiency, ignorance, torturing, suffering are amongst those that are encapsulated in poverty....A black side of the shining world....wonderfully narrated life of poverty....thank you for sharing :)

This poem presents a shocking portrayal of our society where the poor are the worst sufferers: Murdered hopes / Mutilated daydreams at night / Let the mercedes crush the innocent daydreams at night / We are as blind as the child / who was blinded with acid To become the beggar that will supply money for drugs.