Poem: I Worship the Downtrodden by Mark Tulin

I worship the ugliness that most people shield their eyes from

I worship the man who breathes through the tubes of an oxygen tank

I worship the man in the wheelchair who could barely make it uphill

I worship the woman with catheter bags attached to her waist

I worship the hunchback whose head is bent and never sees the sky

I worship the migrant worker who stoops in the hot fields all day

I worship the man with the clubfoot who limps down a broken street

I worship the teen who cuts herself after losing her best friend

I worship the mocked and ridiculed by the rich and powerful

I worship the victims who suffer from poverty and war

I worship the disenfranchised, the oppressed, and those the world ignores.