The Other World

How we’ve come away,
easily led astray,
far from the other world.
How easily we forget,
lured in by luxury,
the many trials of life
and learn to look the other way,
while our fellows rot away.

The sweet smell of money,
that masks the reek of want.
The loud noise of extravagance,
that muffles the cry of despair.

How easily we ignore,
the dichotomy of society
and learn to pretend,
like the other side doesn’t exist.

Our lives of vanity,
a mockery of their self respect.
Our talk of injustice,
a fiendish, cruel attempt
at a taste of superiority.

How easily we move on,
from ideas and commitments,
once our own
and learn the morality,
that arises from convenience.

Our bubbles of comfort –
physical, emotional and intellectual.
Bubbles that define us and
the extent of our interaction
with the other, the outsider.
Bubbles that we protect and
whose existence we justify,
with brazen vulgarity
lest the other question
or worse yet
stand up in protest.

How we’ve come away,
easily led astray,
far from the other world.