I have no idea where the image for this poem came, but it haunts me still. Possibly from a Smith Family brochure - the child was Australian, rather than the images from Biafra a decade before, or the ones about 6-7 years after from pictures from the Vietnam war. It shouldn't need to be someone in Australia to hit us so hard, but it is much closer, and we are more immediately responsible for the neglect that causes such tragedies.

Phil Collins wrote a song called "Another Day In Paradise" on a similar theme. It won several awards. To my mind it was and still is a song that resonates with Me. Collins was criticised by many as he has made a lot of money, and some think he knows little about the poor. But he donated all royalties from songs sold in South Africa to a charity there, donated $2M to another one helping children reach their potential, and an similar amount for a helpline for young people, among many other charities. 

For me the point is less about what others give. It's up to governments to stop the redistribution of wealth from the poor to the rich, and Juliet and I are beneficiaries of this system. All we can do is try to send some back the other way, and vote for those who promise to do less for the wealth and more for the poor. they are hard to find. So we make donations to charities (easy to do) and I volunteer where my skills may be beneficial. Look at the log in your own eye.

And like Mr. Collins, if I have the skill to write something that might turn a heart or draw someone's attention to a problem, I need to write it. I will never have his audience, but still I stand witness to the injustice.