ENGLISH POEM: A cold Within

ENGLISH POEM:

A cold   Within  ;

In dark and bitter cold 

each one possessed  a stick of wood ,

or so the story's told ,

Their dying fire in need of logs ,

The first woman held hers back,

For on the faces around the fire ,

She noticed one was black ,

                   The next man looking cross the way ,

                   Saw one was not of his church ,

                   and couldn't  bring  himself to give 

                   the fire his stick of birch ,

             

the third one sat in tattered clothes ,

he gave his coat a hitch ,

Why his log be put to use ,

to warm the idle rich?

                   The man  just sat back

The rich man just sat -back and thought

of the wealth he had in store 

And somehow to keep what he had earned

from the lazy shiftless  poor ,

                       

                              The black man's  face bespoke revenge 

                              As the fire  passed from sight ,

                              for all he saw in  his stick of wood 

                              was his chance to spite the white 

 

The last man of this forlorn group,

did not expect  -for   gain ,

giving only to those who gave ,

was how he played the game ,

             

                             The logs held tight in deaths still hands ,

                             was the proof of human sin,

                             They didn't die from the cold without ,

                             They died from the cold within 

                             **********