Sunday Stew: Poverty Road

by Gabriella Duncan

From the trickle on the ground, it looks like greed….

I don't even know
If you're listenin'
I don't even
Know your name
Or the color of your hair
I can say I am paying attention
Down to the tiny worlds that
Come in drops of rain

We are a reflection of each other's destination and sometimes pain…

It's those tiny
Details were missin'
While we watch
The world crash
Down as some
Feel so damn entitled
To tout there are
No thorns in their
Crowns

Systems can lie, without a mouth for truth….

I've lived among
The wounded for
Them a daily war
STILL rages on
There are those who
Will deny it a good
Teacher gives the
Answer AND the truth
BEFORE anything is 'wrong'…

From the trickle on the ground it looks like greed…

No we can't seem to stop all the hatin'
Anymore than we can stop the rain
Make sure what you hold as worthy
Isn't worth inflicting accidental pain
In word
or deed
Or action
Or creed
Give a little love with grace
After all we need to be askin',
What exactly is it that
have we've gained?

I've had a bit of a
Wayward story truth
Be told I've lived
Through hell
The taste was rather
Bitter but it's
ALL been worth
The story only havin'
Contrast could tell

I've learned to take
What I've been given
Let it go, it will flow on
Keep your arms
Reserved for just lovin'
Find a way to get along
In every face there is a
Story though it may have
A sad song

A system without hands can still slap a face…..

May I suggest you
LIVE like you're dyin'?
Don't avoid the
Pain in your song
Dance embracing
The whole of the story
Where there is truth
There won't be
Room for wrong…

A system without eyes is blind with hate….

There are those bloodlet
Their problems just to
To medicate the pain
Lack of equal opportunity
Attention leaves many
Sleeping somewhere
In the rain because a
System with no hands
Can heal their pain…

We can't seem to stop all the hate'n
Anymore than we stop the rain
Make sure what you hold as worthy
Has arms that can hold another up
As you never know when your turn will come
Because this society teaches cruelty to it's young
Through its desperate search for perfection
Make sure what you hold as worthy
Isn't worth inflicting even
A little accidental pain
In word
or deed
Or action
Just remember who is watchin'
All those children sitting there
Because life can no longer be
Shielded for our young
Teach them that truth
Is the best thing
For their tongue
You won't have much to fix
When we look back later on….

System says, too late….is a system built on hate….

Painting "Poverty Shack" 2015 by Wes Rehberg