Averting Eyes

when did the “upstanding citizen”
learn to avert their eyes 
when stepping over a homeless person on the way to
their place of work?
when were such people taught that
the horrors of the world will never actually affect them &
that the best that they can do is 
“live a good life” & 
“do their best not to hurt others,”
as if this complete complacence did not
balance itself upon the backs of those
that have been cast out into the streets &
stuffed down into the sewers 
(if not forced into one of society’s garbage cans:
juvenile detention, prison, mental institutions, etc.)?
when did such individuals learn how to cry
on their hands & knees at the “appropriate time”
for events & issues that could have been avoided
had they themselves spent even an infinitesimal amount of their 
precious time to try & stop them?
have such people ever been in a desperate situation?
have they ever had to worry about anything &
if they have, why do they not remember what it was like?
why do such individuals think that it will never be so bad again?
Copyright © | Year Posted 2012

Poem

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Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace