// Sayang Kemboja //

Cambodia was heartfelt.
The children were beautiful.

The streets were nostalgic.
The wonders were breath taking.

The sun was punishing.

The poor are beyond poor

and the sick are beyond sick.

The rich chose to be blind.

Extremities.

Cambodia teaches to aprreciate small things.

Like rain, shampoo and school.

Children lined the filthy streets of Phnom Penh begging.

They play with what we pampered tourists call rubbish.

They live like strays, vulturing on scraps and leftovers of us ugly people.
They are snatched from the beauty of childhood and forced to mature.

They beg to feed themselves, they work to earn what little they can get.

But they are strong. They made friends with what we consider pain.

They chase what we hide and they arent ashame. For we got too much pride.

Despite the atrocities they face daily-

love keeps them alive.

Love for each other.

Love so intricate no adult can decipher.

These children know more love than any adult.

But as they grow, they forget

and succumb to the uglyness of life.