Poetic Asides November Day 11 "prompt No one wants____________"

No One Wants the Orphans

In Romania before the fall of Communism

The west viewed the situation there as dire

Especially that of ‘those gypsies’, they’d say

Tsking and shaking their heads and acting

As if they knew how it was for the Roma

Those born to the life of the gypsy ...

Then, the USSR crashed apart and soon after

The Ceacescus were hung, both of them

And there was great rejoicing – at least

In the West – where many thought by breaking

The back of the communist manifesto, all

Would be well now, not knowing that for

Gypsies, they were merely exchanging

One set of terrible circumstances for another

From the west, all the well-meaning do-gooders

Went off to view the orphanages in Bucharest

And Moldova and other places throughout

The newly freed poverty-stricken countries—

Only to find totally appalling circumstances;

Cribs jammed side by side, with more than one infant

 In each and so few staff to manage the underfed

And horribly unclean babies they had to hose down

Once or twice a day in cold water (no hot available)

 Infant mortality rate was, not surprisingly, very high

So western families stepped up immediately

Trying to adopt as many of these orphans as quickly

As could be arranged, but such was the publicity

Surrounding these horrid places, the new governments

Wishing to appear progressive with no ties to the old

Decided the best way to address the situation

Was to eliminate the problem at its source and since

Most, if not all of the children were Roma – that is gypsy

They were not seen as human beings in their countries

So eventually, it was deemed best to terminate the adoptions,

Close the edifices and pour the children back out onto the street

As one might imagine, the ones grown old enough to fend

Became the quintessential street kids, some even made it back

To their families but they became the main breadwinners there

Learning to steal and beguile as soon as their bare feet

Hit the ground; others, not old enough to survive— did not

And the west, most of the west in any case, thought the problem

Had been eradicated and, in a sense, it had been, had it not?