Poverty by Jane Taylor

This poem was sent to us by Ramon Pena. Ramon currently lives in NJ and has been an independent activist for the last decade.

ANTI-CORRUPTION-3
Anti-Corruption Awards Dec.2012.

Poverty

BY JANE TAYLOR

I saw an old cottage of clay,
And only of mud was the floor;
It was all falling into decay,
And the snow drifted in at the door.

Yet there a poor family dwelt,
In a hovel so dismal and rude;
And though gnawing hunger they felt,
They had not a morsel of food.

The children were crying for bread,
And to their poor mother they’d run;
‘Oh, give us some breakfast,’ they said,
Alas! their poor mother had none.

She viewed them with looks of despair,
She said (and I’m sure it was true),
‘’Tis not for myself that I care,
But, my poor little children, for you.’

O then, let the wealthy and gay
But see such a hovel as this,
That in a poor cottage of clay
They may know what true misery is.

And what I may have to bestow
I never will squander away,
While many poor people I know
Around me are wretched as they.

Our celebration of National Poetry month continues throughout April with poems chosen or written by P4P members.  

Founder of the Politics for the People free educational series and book club for independent voters. Chair of the New York County Independence Party.

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