poverty

by Ross Vassilev

is
when
you live in a small rental apartment
on the ground floor of a 2-story building
and the people upstairs
have a small kid who never stops running around
so it's like you're living under a bowling alley
that's always open
and there's no way to ignore that
even meditation won't work
so you bang on the ceiling with a bat
and they stomp on the floor in return
and you start going crazy
and when you see your upstairs neighbors in the hallway
you can't stand the sight of each other
and the whole thing is so very un-Buddhist
but they're not to blame
and I'm not to blame
and you hope that some day
you'll have the money to buy a house
so there won't be anyone living upstairs anymore
and you can finally live in peace
as you were meant to
but until then you just wait for the day
when Time it will take us all
to a better place.