THE LONELY MAN FROM BANGLADESH
(Code: VT-0006)

A sailor boy came up to me
Sometime three years ago
Said that here in Singapore
I would find my pot of gold

"All you'll need is energy
And the willingness to work
The harder you strive, the lesser you talk
The farther you'll be from getting hurt"

I sat down and I pondered
Over what the boy had said
My wife was there beside me
With downcast eyes and lowered head

The children they were sleeping
Huddled on the dusty floor
Their skinny legs and bony arms
Were marked with painful sores

That very week I went away
Telling them goodbye
My children asked me when I'll be back
I told them "by and by"

"Now all you little rascals
Dry your tears and don't be sad
'Cos papa's gonna be rich the day
Papa's coming back!"

Three years ago I left my home
It seemed so long ago
I headed for that Singapore
To find my pot of gold

It's true I found some money
But most of it just 'flew' away
The cost of living in Singapore
Is just too high to pay!

Each month I sent home money
And said, "I'm coming home"
But year by year in Singapore
I worked hard to the bone

My wife wrote once to tell me
That Kunta's getting fat
"Our home is so much better now
It's even free of rats!"

I cry each time I think of home
And where I should really be
But the fare home is so costly
By air or just by sea

I wrote home to my family
To say I have a home
But each night I'll be under a bridge
Sleeping all alone

The underpass that you walk by day
Is my bedroom every night
And like your little table lamps
The stars above are my lights

And like your playful cuddly dog
Who may join you in your bed
Sometimes I have the rats and roaches
Playing near my head

Each time I watch your family
I would always remember mine
My tears may flow but at least I know
That my family's doing fine

So I grit my teeth and work on harder
And hope that someday I may
Have enough to buy that ticket to
My family and home one day

(For the lonely man sleeping in the Esplanade Underpass)


- Lynda B G Low -
Copyright © Lynda B G Low 2006
VERSES
The Lonely Man From Bangladesh
Lynda's Creations