Bystander - Oct 11 2024

 

Bystander

Oct 11 2024

When I saw them crowding around

the young woman

in plush slippers and a torn dress

lying face down in the street

did I rush in to help?

Think there, but for the grace of God?

Or simply stand back and watch?

The anonymous passerby

who stands by and gawks

I was always smugly sure

would not be me.

A big city

full of busy people

who keep their elbows sharp

and pointed out.

So to see the looks of concern

on so many faces

was reassuring;

that atomized or not

we still stop for strangers

and bother to take care.

Some of us, anyway.

And the others?

Are they shy

indecisive

too preoccupied?

Or do they know themselves too well;

that in an emergency

they aren't of much help.

I looked on, of course,

but respectfully;

unlike those rubber-necking ghouls

straining to see.

However, I didn’t linger,

because with the situation well in hand

what could I possibly add?

     ... So, just as I thought

not some slack-jawed bystander after all!

And no,

but for the grace of God

did not cross my mind.

Because people like me

who inhabit the country of the well

find it hard to imagine

the foreign land

where the less fortunate live,

the sick, infirm, unfit

who are clearly someone else,

the very old

who remain tucked away

in nursing homes and hospices.

Like undocumented aliens

they speak another language

don't easily mix.

You could catch something, after all.

Or worse,

somehow slip

across that gossamer border

to the land of the other,

the sick

injured

unhinged,

the mentally ill,

the very old

who haven’t aged well;

risk

becoming one yourself.