The Abandoned Poem by Perveiz Ali

The Abandoned.

We pretend to be honorable but are deceitful,
Humans who fail to correct our inhumane acts.
Blind to or disregarding the evil deeds,
Even as we preach of the greatness of God.
We devalue the elderly who paved the pathways,
Ignore them and dishonor their sacrifices.
Social outcasts confined to old age homes,
Where sighs and sobs are hidden from our view.
Their tired and weary bodies put out of sight,
Discarded by the very ones they loved so much.
The same ones they sweated and sacrificed for,
Their progeny who orchestrated their seclusion.
All the years given to improve their children's lives,
Rewarded by exclusion from their success.
What now of those who are wrinkled and gray?
Have we abandoned those who paved the way?
©Perveiz Ali