"Ethiopia" by Aaron Walters

Aaron let me share this awesome poem with all of you. He wrote it on the plane on his way back to the U.S.
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Ethiopia
by Aaron Walters

People, with nothing, scared, hungry, sick, cold, dirty.

Dogs, not touched, not noticed, not as important as people who are also not touched and not noticed.

Mud, boys make a living cleaning shoes because of it; clean the mud off my shoes boy.

Money, kids running up to the car competing with each other to sell a beautiful bunch of bright orange carrots, grown by people who live with the land, crisp and sweet...for ten cents. Exhaust blowing in their faces as we eat the carrots and drive away.

Donkeys, lying in the middle of a busy road because it is the most comfortable place they can find.

Oxen, strong and proud attached to each other, pulling a plough through the earth which resists every step. Men carry the plough back to home, start again in the morning.

Chat, a natural drug that keeps people awake, only so they don't have to sleep.

Tej, people drink so they can lose a bit of their fear, smiles, laughter, joy...hangover.

Injera, why would you want it without meat? Can't you afford it?

Friends, real. Not much to get in the way of genuine human interaction.

Bugs, in your bed, biting you while you sleep, not sleeping...they win.

Rain, too much now...not enough later. I hate the rain...if it doesn't rain I'll die.

I'm sick myself, how can I take care of you?

The street children say their first need is love, the second, food.

Churches, carved out of rock by hand. Why? Old men who have been living in them for 70 years, what do they know? Can I know it?

People, proud, strong, healthy, intelligent, skilled, patient.

People.