The Princess and the Paupers

By Lynn Ockersz

The one-time vivacious princess,

Hailed as the Crown Jewel of the Orient,

But ravaged by regal Sires of the Occident,

And milked dry by Brown Sahib oppressors,

Who ran through her assets in gay abandon,

Now lies utterly wasted and in tatters,

At the mercy of the world’s largesse,

With her multitude of bone-thin children,

Facing a future of death by starvation.