Gold cannot quench thirst, br the driving effects only make dry mouths worse. br The ingestion of Gold cannot sustain the body, br the insoluble mineral only perpetuates hunger's curse. br br Drowned in the pits poverty br eyes glossed over by the allure br A pitiful kings ransom – six dollars a day br golden promises paving the way for br human exploitation in the name of mineral extraction br br To starve in the stranglehold hold of poverty? br To suffocate under the material weight of the world? br To suffer above or be swallowed below? br As avarice floods the desperate mind br torrents of mud flood the gimcrack mines. br br Foreign speculators act as black market br sorcerers waving imperial wands. br Chinese move in with machine precision br raising the stakes, razing the topsoil. br Invading anglos leave locals no choice: br weapons sought to level the playing field br against the white man's wealth. br br Local police bribed to play the blind-eye. br Clandestine concessions, br retroactive legalization, br blurring the boarders between br legitimate enterprise and illegal excavation. br br Children sifted from the school systems br books buried in the murk, br education pawned from the immediate payoff br br Isolated communities exposed and exploited. br Towns and farms flooded with toxic filth bi-products, br mercury, cyanide, and lead br seep into the limited water supply, br ingested by the fish, consumed by the people: br Human greed poisoning our innocence, br altering our very DNA. br br Lives lost in the pursuit of poverty's br escape route, Broken bodies, br severed villages, br a single flake of beauty, br a single pate of food.