Poverty, Man's Catch 22 Poem by Ali Rahimi

Poverty, Man's Catch 22



Poverty is the bane of man’s existence,
Poverty is the plague, poison, pestilence,
Poverty is the fierce criminal sponging on the weakest,
Poverty is the serial killer,
Poverty is the predator with AIDS afflicting only the vulnerable,
Poverty is treating women as dirt,
Poverty is a wife beater,
Poverty is a rich man with four wives on orgies,
Poverty is a brother killing his brother for prejudice,
Poverty is states torturing and raping political dissidents,
Poverty is states indoctrinating dogma and jingoism,
Poverty is states treating minorities as second hand citizens,
Poverty is parents committing female genital mutilation,
Poverty is parents forcing arranged marriages,
killing their daughters for a premarital affair!
Poverty is arresting lovers for their crime against humanity,
The crime of love!
Poverty is man’s catch 22,
A Buddhist monk is poor in material wealth,
But excellent in mental, moral health,
Rich in spiritual gain,
Through material loss and physical pain,
As poor as a church mouse,
Some of these folk are penniless,
Stony broke like a bad joke,
Paupers living in destitute,
Bereft of all, even of bread and butter, bare essentials,
But they are cuddly and affectionate,
Lovable and attentive, loyal and honorable,
Like Ragamuffins,
Poverty stricken people come up,
With ways to invent,
Yes poverty is stimulating,
Prompting the poor to imagine, to create,
Yes, necessity is the mother of invention.
The calm after storm,
Juxtaposition of extremes,
Proximity of poverty and affluence,
The ghetto is next to the casino, five star hotels,
Starving, boney children dying for a handful of rice,
Have to dance to the music of discos, listen to the
Shouts and swearwords of the drunkards nearby,
Look in sadness at rich guys in limousines,
They don’t give a hoot to the poor souls,
Don’t give a damn to their misery and starvation,
But the poor can survive,
Honor, and grace are their fortune,
Loyalty and dignity are their asset,
Nobility and sincerity are their affluence!

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