only then …




when we covet gleaming automobiles,


shiny watches,

pendants of gold,


the latest and the greatest,


of what the Mall has to offer,



we betray humanity,

religion too,


for only when the lust ceases,


when the urge to splurge is stilled,


when we see each other not as vessels for material gratification,


when we sever the silken shackles of ostentation,


only then,


may we preach,


but until then,


we’ve left what makes us human far behind,


may we soon,

turn around to see,


that humanity isn’t bought or bartered or sold,


it’s within us all to find …