This is a Poem...

This is a poem
for the downtrodden,
the ones who social workers
call "marginalized"
for the child vendors
of gum,
who should be in school,
or at play
this is a poem
for the shoeshine
bent over all day,
and for Indian women
huddled in billowing skirts
midst their herbs, trinkets and sweets
it is a poem
for the denizens
of streets...
And for blind beggars
and the limbless,
for those without insulin
for those who must choose-
food or medicine.
This is a poem for the poor-
who Jesus said
will always be with us,
and it is also for the indifferent
who walk away...
(the well-off at least for today.)
And for the merciful, the compassinate and just-
may they too, always be with us.