charity to all

with the tragic droop of your eyes
you stare at your feet
to avoid the shame of their mocking eyes
slurring the bad name of your good character
you have lived in a car with your child
to avoid getting beaten tonight
you have sweat and shouted and wrestled
the overpowering feeling of despair
to keep from relapsing into the numbing arms of the gods of destruction
your hands are chapped and dry
your hair is a greying fright
and everyone seems to hate you
because you have the patina of use and dysfunction
you are rust in the shiny society

I hope you pity them
their perfect creaseless lives
like linen napkins too white
to ever be of use
they are egg shells cracking at the slightest touch
you have learned to be
a pain destroying spitfire of self actualization

yet you stare at your feet as you collect your welfare check
because of every single middle class family
clutching their purses and children
in reaction to your passing
reminding you that you are despised
and you find it puzzling and callow

why do these rude pampered pests
pay into the social welfare system
if they feel it only attracts the worst sort of scum
Didn't they give attention in school
to that blading liver spotted history teacher
when he said that the New Deal
was all about protecting each American
from life's thin ice
and temporary human frailty

Just remember that ignorance
of that absolute necessity
must be such a nice luxury