The Next Rung

We sit in our best,

Comfy, middle class

Houses. Some of us

Reside in mansions.

And when we see the

Poverty of the

World, we feel guilty.

But why should this be?

It’s not our fault that

Some African child

Will die from typhoid.

But we zip around

In multi-thousand

Dollar and maybe

Million-dollar cars.

Why have we not stripped

Off all of our clothes?

Why haven’t we yet

Sold our homes and our

Vehicles to aid

The poor? The answer

Is “Who cares?” And what

Reason is there to

Give a care about

The poor or less than

Well off when our own

Economy is

A circus of clowns:

Where the court jesters

Siphon funds from the

Rich and give as alms

To the poor, as well?

It’s vicious and cruel.

Private charity

Boosts some but freeing

Up the market, with

The end of all State

Licenses, laws that

Cover minimum

Wages, and drug laws

Would cause the poor to

Reach for the next rung.