Down In The Slum

Down In The Slum
By: Zach Wampler


Dirt covered cheeks, groveling on hands and knees
No low is too low for just one kind person to hear her pleas
This little girl begging for the smallest amount of food
To feed her mother who is starving, cold, and nude
But the well dressed people just walk by, not even giving a crumb
Not even caring about those down in the slum


Ignorance is bliss or at least so they say
The meaning of poverty still eludes her today
Her mother just smiles and tells her money is tight
But recently her mother’s smile has become a little less bright
She doesn’t know what’s wrong, but she misses that smile
And she’ll do anything to see it again, even if it’s just for a while
She’ll work until her muscles ache, until her frail body is numb
She’ll work her best to carve out a life down in the slum


It’s hard work, brutal work, no place for a kid
She had to save her mother though if it was the last thing she did
At least she could rest in peace knowing her mother was alive
But how could one live in a place where it’s a struggle to survive
Where everyday, to disease and corruption, the people succumb
Where everyday is just another battle down in the slum


Sitting on the corner, she hopes someone hears her prayer
Begging for change, she wishes that just one person would care
So close to her goal, so close to saving her loved one
Soon her mother would be better, soon all the struggle would be done
It didn’t matter that they were poor, just that they could smile once more
Just the two of them together, hand in hand, just like before
It didn’t matter about money anymore for she knew what she’d become
Just another worn out face, just another person, down in the slum