Going Home Amidst the Lost People

GOING HOME AMIDST THE LOST PEOPLE Little boy eight and grandma Spoke to him about his poor behavior He snapped back without eye contact Like talking to a pinball machine The usual woman in the pie van wasn’t there A substitute man was there, I saw - glanced at - his pies and his soviet face and Decided to walk on by, pieless Outside the metro an old lady dignified and Well dressed standing smartly Holding a balloon like a flag of defeat For sale to the passing crowd Inheriting nothing of their own rich culture, Acquiring all the cheapest baubles of the west, This is a lost people. .................................................................................................................. (See it for yourself any day in St. Petersburg, Russia)