in ragged and dirty clothes
entered the church.
She immediately went straight to the bench
and knelt down.
as if my heart was about to stop beating,
and couldn't hold back my tears.
I could tell she was very poor from her looks.
She was very thin,
clearly hadn't eaten for days.
I could even say she had no home
and just wandered from place to place
carrying a dirty sack in her hand.
That was all she had I believed.
But she came to the church
and knelt down and prayed.
That was the 2nd time
seeing somebody like her praying.
Seeing her praying,
I prepared right away some 50-peso bill
in case she got near me
because she was benches away from me.
But she stood up after few minutes
without looking my way
and went out of the church.
I watched her until she was out of my sight.
That was all I did.
I should have done the right thing
by approaching her and offering her the money
but I didn't.
Nowadays,
whether you live in the city or in the countryside,
it's so hard to cope being poor.
You don't have enough money to buy your needs
and you barely make ends meet.
It's worse for poor people who never went to school
and who have no skills
because they can't get a job
and no business wants to employ them.
All left for them to do is to scavenge the garbage
for anything they can sell
or wander from place to place to beg.
They wander and live in the streets
and at night when they rest and sleep,
they're found on the sidewalks
sheltered by the structures around the city.
Many times in our lives
we let opportunities to help
pass us by.
No wonder,
troubles and problems are always there
because we don't give a damn.
Helping the poor is always a good thing,
like opening a savings account in the bank.
In time to come,
we receive blessings from God
much like reaping interests from our bank deposits.
We will receive back
what we heartily and kindly give.