I heard a baby crying
as I passed an open door,
I guessed that it was hungry,
but I didn't know for sure.
It's cry changed to one of pain,
and it got beneath my skin.
I wondered why it had been left to cry,
it was most unsettling.
It's calling stopped me in my tracks,
I hesitated not knowing what to do.
The baby's crying was upsetting me,
it's attention was long overdue.
I knocked, and shouted into the house,
but no one responded to my call.
The ceaseless crying drew me inside
where I saw a woman lying in the hall.
I assumed it was the mother,
that lay impervious to the cries.
Beside her was the cause of her neglect,
and the look in her far away eyes.
Orlando Belo
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/her-far-away-eyes/
