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Smalltown China by Vanessa Pham
from Legacy 2007
Smalltown China
by Vanessa Pham
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A foreigner,
I pass a boy in the bustling street pleading,
reaching out for help,
holding another in his lap
whose face is battered,
body is limp
like a soiled bag of bones.
My wide, dry eyes
are glued to his tears
as the cart driver pedals on
the boy's wails fade
into the busyness;
his form melts
into the crowds
scurrying about the marketplace,
bargaining their day's wages
on slabs of goat meat and plump mangos,
one more meal for their children.
