A hope-filled, worthless life

I live in Africa
My name is Sam
My bones are weak
Hungry I am

I sleep in the dirt
With my filthy rags
I wear during the day
Looking like a plague

I am ten years old
My father is dead
My sister was sold
The date; I always dread

The water is unhealthy
But I drink anyway
You don’t think about diseases
When you’ve been thirsty all day

My skin is not clean
And my hair has been shaved off
Wars I have seen
With guns, we’ve all been shot

But when I lay at night
Gazing up at the stars
I know that one day
This country will soon see light