POOR

Lynval G. Gray
Community Justice Project
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

I work hard everyday

Have more than my fair share of bills to pay

Got all these mouths to feed

Struggling all the way just to fulfill our basic needs

I am over worked, underpaid, and not appreciated

Society’s doormat, abused, and hated

They call me lazy, a wart on society

They cast down moral condemnation rather than helping me

I am the unskilled, society’s unsophisticated progeny

Constantly abused, and ridiculed by those who should look out for me

For generations all we have known is shame and poverty

A life of toil and pain is my so called destiny

Never have enough food, money or resources just for basic living

Barely able to pay my utilities that ensures my well being.

I am cursed to an existence down below

Below the poverty line, below the livable income, barely holding

on that’s how it goes

Struggling, unaware, my ignorance leaves me ripe for the picking

A scam artist’s dream foreseen to be my calling

Politicians build their careers trying to keep me in line

I am such a burden, I remain undefined

I reside in the neglected parts of the community

I am the outsider disjoined from this unity.

I AM POOR

Living each day wondering what else can be in store

Barely surviving from day to day, crying out for your help

Praying for a deliverance from this cruel hand I was dealt.

My life is not easy, despite what is being said

I have nightmares each night I go to bed

I AM THE POOR

This you cannot ignore