Christmas Orphanage

Christmas Orphanage

Pasty faces looking out
pressed against greasy panes
windows out of their world
darkened sad sunken eyes
glimpsing a world denied.

Falls of snow bring the cold
shivering from this frigidity
that lingers in the coldness
of their desperate unloved lives
spirits broken by the coldness of others.

Orphaned, deprived of real love
a spark of a smile curls on broken lips
as they see children of freedom
wrapped in warm clothes
sledging and playing
in the fresh fallen snow.

Christmas Day brings a wishful flicker
the children’s hopes of a special meal
provided and served by their fat benefactors
dressed in warm colourful garments
such a contrast to their greyed existence.

A meal, a little better than usual
gratefully received with a present of fruit
an orange, slightly fresher than the odours
of a dining room of starved children
whose bellies were fuller than normal
on the day that happens once a year.

© Carol Robson 2012