A ragged boy
Picking up garbage
A malnourished girl
Carrying around
Her brother
A family of five
With patched up clothes
Lonlely old man
Sipping on a cigar
Group of workers
Doing manual labor

A smile
Caught on Camera
Doesn't prove a thing
A smile
Frozen on a
Framed photograph
Doesn't convey the truth

They may not have everything
But they are the happiest
-The world's best lies
The Balm to soothe
the conscience cries

If you take time
To put aside the
Photographs lies
And look into the eyes
Their saddest eyes
You can see that
Behind the fleeting smiles
Lies the sinster reality
Uncertain of the timing
Of their next meal
Worried haggard parents
Young kids exposed to
Life's cruelty
Burdens
Cares
Dissapointments
Hunger
Diseases
Denied dreams
Violation of rights
Lack of basic facilities
The list is endless

If only those
Smiling photographs are
Teared up
To let the curtain drop
Maybe then
-only then
The world would
Stop
Romanticizing poverty.