Tag Archives: apathy

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A Poem for the Morning by Mindy

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So I’m sitting at Starbucks with my 2% chai
and this lady comes walking and people stare as she goes by.
She’s about 5 foot 2 and she’s wearing a big coat,
and everybody looks up from their computers and forget what they wrote.

She walks to the counter with her bundle of sacks,
as we sit here rich and white on our new shiny macs.
She’s visibly frozen from the outside right in,
and nobody wants eye contact with her, is this a great sin?

She buys a coffee for here and digs through her pockets
and everyone’s eyes jump nearly out of their sockets.
Could she be paying for her coffee with those filthy worn hands?
her hair matted down under her hood coming out it knotted strands.

She walks to the creamer and adds some to her drink,
and as she does so people are perplexed and sit to think.
So the silence goes on as people just sit and stare,
it’s visibly disturbing just to see her sit there.

She is another soul and I am so distraught,
just thinking about the chai that I just walked in and bought,
without thinking about if I’d have enough for another time,
and still I sit here comfortable and uncomfortable…

I have so much to think about, so much going on in my life.
And I just settled in for a warm drink and started to write,
but now I can’t focus on my qualitative essay due tomorrow,
because here I am seeing a woman being ignored in her sorrow.

And I have to ask myself,..
when I see a brother or sister in need,
am I going to go on in my selfishness in greed?
not thinking about her soul, not having pity on her?
because how can the love of GOD be in me if my insides don’t just stir?

-By Mindy

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From concern to apathy, or maybe I just forgot

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It was only a few months ago that I was an outspoken advocate on addressing the crisis in Darfur. The situation was even newsworthy, carrying stories of Powell calling it a genocide and other information about what was occuring. I helped organize a group to speak to a senator, encouraged people to write letters, send emails and more. I wrote an article for Relevant about Darfur and then I forgot.
It’s easy to forget when you don’t see the pictures and hear the stories on TV or in the Newspaper. It’s easy to forget when you stop reading the emails with “Darfur” in the title (cause you can already guess what they’re about).
It’s easy to forget because the dead bodies, the mutilated people, the raped women, the displaced refugees; none of them are in my way on my bike ride to work. They don’t pass me in the grocery store and they haven’t called me on the telephone.
I saw one of them today, and I didn’t know what to say. A small child just looking at me. “um, I… I forgot.” That’s all I could think of saying it humbles me like nothing else. Enough of me feeling important, feeling like I’m doing good things, living a good life, suddenly I don’t feel so good about what I spend most of my time doing.

Let’s get concerned again, and let’s continue to speak. My voice is not hoarse from crying out too much, I’m rested enough to stand and raise my voice on behalf of those who cannot.
Let your leaders know that you know about your brothers and sisters that are being killed in Darfur. Send them a card. And get more letters for your friends, family, and church members to sign as well.