"All My Pretty Ones" (2)

Part 2

Along a trafficked stretch toward the mall,

A family was walking in the middle –

The boy and girl scurried ahead like mice,

Another boy trailed with his labored crawl,

Their parents so far back for sure they piddle

Away their duty just like rolling dice.

For one thing, this family should not have been walking on the median, especially on such a busy road toward the Mall of the Emirates.  But if they must, the parents need to be very watchful and hold their children’s hands to keep them from running into traffic.

From "All My Pretty Ones," Part 2 © Ron Villejo

Note. I wrote this four-part poem in March 2009, when I was living in Dubai.  It was an accounting of things I saw parents do, in relation to their children, which made me shudder.  The title, “All my Pretty Ones,” comes from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” uttered by the shocked Macduff when he heard that Macbeth had his wife and children killed.