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The poems

Made by Teresa Marrin
© 2010-2012

privilege

I will tell you
How you came to be perfect
So perfect to judge the world
Of its wantonness, addiction
Poverty, carelessness, sloth,
Brokenness and insanity
You were the blessed
You did not come
Primed for despair
Doomed to a life you did not choose
To poverty, to pain, to want
You came
Born to survive
Born to thrive
Right family, right nation, right time
Bearing the silver spoon of privilege
No alcohol-soaked brain
Or demented mother
Absent father
Or cockroaches running across your cradle
It was luck of the draw and nothing more
A small fluke of fate
That your mother read you stories
And your dad took you fishing
And the house had a working bathroom
Don’t tell me you earned this
You were given this
So you could go out and help
The ones that weren’t given
And if you forget
Ah, if you forget
Next time
You won’t be quite so lucky ….