The Scale
How much does a whale weigh
against a bullet in a child?
How much is a cup of tea
for a journey on water
with no shore?
How much is your love
scaled against justice for
a woman in a prison cell?
Is a planet worth less
seen from the whole of the universe?
How much do your belongings count
Your house your shelter your home
against a dictator’s will?
What’s the worth of your favourite things?
How do you measure memories?
How much does your childhood weigh
Can you trade it for feathers or for gold?
How much are your dreams
in a hand on the forehead of dying man?
How heavy is a flower or how
light against the grain of evil?
How much does the image of a god or
a goddess weigh against the mass of
people ready to kill for the idea of belief?
What weight needs a toe carrying a ballerina
or a tongue for a word of comfort or
a sting?
How much the devil is your money worth
And can you trade it for your fate?
How much is a weapon for wisdom?
A basket of sorrow
a quarrel a fight
for an eyeful of joy?
The amber of a happy moment
against the vastness of despair?
Does a trace of an artist’s single
brush stroke or a pencil’s line
compete with the colourful richness
of an Indian elephant decorated for
a festivity?
The whale in the ocean and the child
they ride the waves to a faraway shore
published here:
