Boat and Net

In the shimmery light
Of a single kerosene lamp
In a single room mud hut
Three little boys sit
Around a pot of boiling rice
Being cooked by their sister,
Their eyes filled with hunger.
Closest to the lamp
Sits the eldest boy, studying
A dilapidated second hand book.
He dreams to be a doctor oneday
And help poor people, cure them
Of ailments similar to the one
That claimed his mother's life
A few monthes ago;
But fate knows that he
Will take up the boat
And the net like his
Fisherman father, who lies
In a corner, resting,
After another futile day
On the boat.