Down An Alley, Guangzhou
Behind the apartment block,
an alleyway. We walked down
after a coffee with cute foam
in a café with English Tea
Shop tables. We stop
by an outhouse with a side
room no bigger than a shed. Occupied
by a family with three children.
Youngest crying. Tiny secret
slum. Didn’t believe it
until I saw the one bed,
kitchen stove, toilet bucket;
coffin-living.
Three
steps
later
a road, traffic, shops
and the rest of Guangzhou,
China, world unaware.
