I am the Rag picker!

I pick up what other's dispose
I roam mounds that always grow
I eye my gain from what one throws
I am the Rag Picker!

On my shoulders, my trusty sack
Always seen in tattered rags
Armed with a long stick
I try to sell what i pick.

I search for useful waste
Things one dumps with great distaste
Consumerism and its changing trends
In a junk pile the outdated ends

You have seen me on tracks and on roads
But you care not for my loads
For my presence hardly in your mind
Nor the waste that you left behind.

I fend for my very own
For a community servant i am not
I ain't here on my free will
Or to clean up for those little snots!

Who thought that the litter one spread
Could be the lifeblood of someone else
So let another clean up instead
For another's very unruly mess!

Blame around so liberally thrown
Along with the waste disowned
We react not till the waste grows
It is the Government's fault and not one's own.

So as long as you want, litter on
Till all known space is gone
But wherever you dump, I'll be there
Taking on my rightful share.
For I pick up what others dispose
And when will it stop one does not know
But it is good for me I suppose
For I AM THE RAG PICKER!


Rag Pickers of India - Kamat's Potpourri