Nobody’s Birth

Q-sian Kahmei *

'Twas a cold winter's evening, chill and grey
When I walked out of my city mansion's sway,
A little girl caught my eye, alone and pale;
Wandering streets with no place to hail.

Cloned in rags, with shoes worn thin,
She gazed at families, with love locked within;
Watching children play, with parents by their side,
Her eyes seemed saying, "I wish I had that pride.”

Sympathy moved me, I approached with a gentle tone,
"Who are you, little one? Where are you going, alone?"
Her eyes brimmed with tears, she took a moment's pause,
Then broke into sobs, as if lost without a cause.

And I saw on her face, just pain's dark night,
As tears she fought, burst with a silent, inward fight;
Perhaps her mother's memory, a grief so profound,
Turning my joy to sorrow, my heart's hollow sound.

No words came forth, just tears that wouldn't cease,
A memory that haunts, a heart with no peace.
My day, once bright, turned somber and grey,
A mourning memory, that I can't shake away.

Summary:
The poem recalls a winter's evening when the writer encountered a lost, impoverished little girl wandering the streets, envying the warmth of others' family. When asked about her identity and destination, she broke down in tears, unsure of who she was or where she was going, leaving the writer with a haunting memory that soured his day.