Gratitude | Teen Ink
  1. Home
  2. Poetry
  3. Free Verse
  4. Gratitude

Gratitude

June 11, 2013
By ClaireP SILVER, San Rafael, California
More by this author
ClaireP SILVER, San Rafael, California
8 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
"People can be divided into three classes, the few who make things happen, the many who watch things happen, and the overwhelming majority who have no idea what has happened."

View profile

There.
They smile at me:
wide expanses of scattered teeth
grins too large for their hungry faces
holding on by a thread
yet,
content.
Not troubled by their everyday struggle.
Kindness exploding from every pore on their frail bodies
but,
why?
Lightened hair on dark skin,
hinting malnourishment.
calloused hands and fading scars,
diligent and determined while
living in absolute poverty
when tomorrow isn't guaranteed
nothing is.

Here.
everyone complains:
stress, anger, suicide.
Too many problems,
too much,
but why is it us?
Who hurl our precious protests
at a preoccupied world
when the happiest
who have nothing
don’t mutter one.

© Emily F., Cape Town, South Africa

The author's comments:
I've participated in numerous service trips in the country and the world and have seen the lavish mansions and shuddering shacks. In both, I have noticed the attitude and happiness of their inhabitants. Most often, those who had the least materialistically had the most overall happiness. The relationship between wealth and content is strange and muddled but definitely linked.
Post a comment
Submit your own

Similar Articles

Previous Next
Poetry
The Protectors' of the World
By Arbys GOLD
Dobbs Ferry, New York
Arbys GOLD, Dobbs Ferry, New York
15 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.&quot;Edgar Allan Poe<br /> &quot;A dream doesn&#039;t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work. ~Colin Powell&quot; ~ Colin Powell<br /> &quot;Wisdom is not finally tested in the schools, Wisdom <br /> &quot;A poem is never finished, only abandoned.&quot;-Paul Valery

View profile
Poetry
The Backyard
By CarlyG GOLD
Emmaus, Pennsylvania
CarlyG GOLD, Emmaus, Pennsylvania
10 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do.&quot; H. Jackson Brown Jr.

View profile
Poetry
The Moon
By Izzy Hare BRONZE
Camano Island, Washington
Izzy Hare BRONZE, Camano Island, Washington
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments
View profile
Poetry
Unreach Love
By C.J.H. BRONZE
Benciao City, Taipei County, Other
C.J.H. BRONZE, Benciao City, Taipei County, Other
4 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Sometimes the world tries ot knock it out of you. But I believe in music the way that some people believe in fairy tales.&quot; August Rush(2007)

View profile
Poetry
Time
By Lost-In-Life GOLD
Whitby, Other
Lost-In-Life GOLD, Whitby, Other
11 articles 0 photos 299 comments

Favorite Quote:
It&#039;s never to late, if it weren&#039;t for the last minute many things would never get done!

View profile
Poetry
You
By BreLee SILVER
Sula, Montana
BreLee SILVER, Sula, Montana
7 articles 0 photos 0 comments
View profile

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 0 comments.