Poor Man's Winter

Rich man's greed breeds poor man's need.
Poor man's need feeds rich man's greed.
This poem can be read at:
http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1649143-Poor-Mans-Winter

It goes like this:
Within this world, when falls wind-driven snow,
As always was, the poor accrue more need
And as the wintry storm winds start to blow,
The bitter hunger ever plants its seed.
The wealthy smile with greed and watch it grow.
They make more money, selling dear their feed.

On hard-luck of the poor they feast and feed.
The coal they sell, sells best in driven snow.
Demands of colder weather breed more need.
The cutting knives of sleet ride winds that blow.
Misfortune for the poor plants hungers seed,
But for the rich, their fortunes faster grow.

The rich, to make their fortunes faster grow
Can raise the prices they charge for their feed.
They praise, in church, the storms that sent the snow.
The more they make, the more the poor will need.
They therefore pray that stronger winds may blow,
That they may sell more dearly, coal and seed.

Starvation looms, the farmer eats his seed.
That means a new crop he now cannot grow.
The milk cow dies for want of ample feed.
The chickens freeze, half covered by the snow.
The peasants sicken, paralyzed by need,
And still the winter wind will bitter blow.

Hard times to all the poor strike such a blow:
A new threat now, the plague has sowed its seed
Starvation, freezing cold and funerals grow.
Despair and resignation start to feed
And huts are covered by the drifting snow.
The last log burns, to cause the greatest need.

Families huddle, warmth their greatest need.
Unknown to them, now warming breezes blow,
And ward off death, before it plants its seed.
Bare places where the snow has melted grow.
The rivers on the melting runoff feed.
The roof emerges from the drifted snow.

Books are available at: JamesWalterOrr.com

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