Statistics

Statistically
it was a rich island
income per capita
one million
per annum
Naturally
it was a shock to hear
half the population had been carried off
by starvation
Statistically
it was a rich island
A UN Delegation
(hurriedly dispatched)
discovered however
a smallish island
with a total population
of - 2
Both inhabitants
regrettably
not each a millionaire . . .
as we’d presumed
But one island owner
Income per annum:
Two million
The other
his cook/chauffeur
shoeshine boy/butler
gardener/retainer
handyman/labourer
field nigger etc. etc.
The very same
recently remaindered
by malnutrition
Statistically
It was a rich island
Income per capita
per annum
one million.

Cecil Rajendra

From A better World for All by Margaret Calder and Roger Smith, page 7
Original source: Rajendra, C., Songs for the unsung - Poets on Unpoetic Issues Like War, Want and Refugees, Risk Book Series, World Council of Churches, 1983.

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