She stood apart
protecting her heart
from the multitude
thronging free food
Alone she was
Free from the pain
of mothers suckling hungry babies
to dry nipples
Free from the grief
of fathers carrying dying children
on blistered, cracked soles
Free of the confusion
in armies of frightened eyes
fleeing starvation, this side and that
Erect shoulders
breasts covered by tattered dress
legs defiantly astride
saucer eyes staring haughtily
at the unending line
Hungry she was too
but she was used to it
unlike those whose work
was snatched away
at the midnight hour
Her hunger coalesced into anger
Anger had kept her afloat
against goondas, rapists, corrupt cops
scared off with her acid tongue
spouting bone-rattling curses
from terrifying gods
Her mission -
to inject her voice
into kids with sun bleached hair
matching her own
fill them with the anger
she has known which alone
can be their weapon
to survive.
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