Somewhere near you a child walks the streets
Echoes of emptiness live in his heart
But elsewhere near you a girl awakens
To the sound of birdsong outside her window
A cozy blanket pulled to her chin
And a diamond ring on her middle finger.

Miles of oceans pass you by
A steaming desert beneath bare feet
Hunger screaming protests of fear -
When will it ever end - "Will I die before it does?"
But somewhere in the distance the girl breaks fast
Brushes her teeth clean before a gold-framed mirror,
Her bare feet tapping against a fury rug -
"I hope my good grades at school will last."

He roams the ghettos, all tattered and worn
As the winter fingers cling to his bones -
Frail, thin legs - they finally collapse
And he falls to the ground -
While someone nearby sang
"Oh my heart be strong
And guide when eyes grow dim"i

Dressed in uniform she skips on past
Oblivious to matters outside her prism -
While the door to a shiny car is held wide open,
Closes behind her when she steps inside.

Where life's a continues famine
Children starve and children die -
Born into the world without a hope,
Without a choice, without a fault...
...Where gunfire becomes a daily ritual
Wars for sake of money and power -
Not for humanity but against it
We destroy ourselves along with nature
Before desperately trying to redeem ourselves.

She crosses the road and to the shops
Her head in clouds and deep in thought
Of an upcoming dance and hair and makeup.

The boy looks up from his place in the gutter
Seeing a girl of shiny cars and priceless diamonds
Walk on past him as if he did not matter.

--
i "Breaking the Silence" by Loreena McKennitt