M&Ms Poem by Tsunami HiroshiSu

I got the shots
Promised to take the pills
Malaria
Or whatever they said
Even practiced swallowing candy
So I could swallow pills
I navigated the airport
Sat on the plane for hours on end
We arrived and it was dark.

In the morning
We missed all of this?
The culture is rich
As though they have a sort of music in their world
There are street vendors
They crowd us
If they can't sell their jewelry
Their beads
Their cloth
Their wooden carvings
They won't feed their families

I didn't understand that then.

The kids follow us
I am white
Blond hair
Anna has braces
We are novelties
We hand out chocolate to the children who follow us
Probably never tried it before
It's melted and sticky
They don't care
They are grimy
No shoes
But they smile
Thankful for everything they have
Though they have so little

If you've never seen kids like this
I pity you
They wish they could go to school
We complain about it
For them they are lucky if they get rice
I always have chocolate in my house
Why is it that the privileged always want more,
But those poor kids are happy with an M&M?

One little boy follows me
We don't speak the same language
But he teaches me Jambo
I teach him Hello
You don't have to speak the same language to share
M&M's