Rich Or Poor

The smiles of children stamped in the mint of memory are the coin of the realm of happiness!

 

My great grandfather and grandmother Ben and Babe Morgan Circa 1920s

A rich man's son inherits want

with no desire to work hands bare

Gives the job to another man

to look out from his easy chair

 

A poor man's son inherits grace

born of toil and sweat of his brow

He adjudged of hard earned merit

pushes on what body will allow

 

The rich man's son inherits greed

with what malice it may entail

Thinking others beneath his station

for lack of character he does ail

 

The poor man's son inherits kindness

which with all others level stands

Then asks the outcast bless his door

to share the fruit of his two hands

 

Heir to what is the rich man's son

tender flesh that fears the cold

To the poor never gives his time

nor dare he wear a garment old

 

Inheriting, it seems to me

what no good man would wish to be

 

Heir to what is the poor man's son

strong muscles and pounding heart

Chipped of a marble character

beloved by all he touched in part

 

Inheriting, it seems to me

what all good men would wish to be

No claim to copyright fair use assumed

Author's Note

It isn't that rich people are per-say bad. Nor that poor people are good. It is the human condition that sets up society by stature. And counts wealth by monetary gain. Money is never happiness. Yet we are told all the time that it is. Look around you. See the multitudes rushing to amass their fortunes. And for what. Women who followed Gloria Steinem's ideals that you can have it all are miserable. Why? Because you can't have it all. You can't spend a life climbing the corporate ladder. Waiting to reach some plateau in your late 30s and then start a family. Children are not easy to raise. Nor cheap to keep in health and happiness. So why does money seem to make so many crazy and so many unhappy? Because money can't hold a hand. Money can't read a child's bedtime story. And money cannot make memories that last a lifetime. Shared life does that. Family does that. Descendants are the answer to selflessness. I cannot forget the look of a child's face who waited for dad to come pick him up when we were children. Only to hear again and again dad was too busy to come get him. How long do we think we will live? Not long. The dreams of happiness preached on wall street are the lies that will not live forever neither will we. The smiles of children stamped in the mint of memory are the coin of the realm of happiness!
Tate

Reviews

[Hanan_Maliah]

My man Tate..I have actually read this through more then once...it is to be reflected upon with more then a first glance. This understanding of being rich and having the world laid at your feet has for eternity been taken in stride...BUT...when you have toiled with your hands to bring your worth it is only then that you become RICH...those that believe the word rich applies solely to monetary gains are in fact poor...I would far rather be rich in mind and spirit enough to enjoy a fresh rain that has kissed the sweetest of roses bringing forth the decadence of scent burnt into memory that only a rose can bring then to be delivered a dozen cut, wrapped, or vased only to die...even then I would try to dry them so their existence is captured in time. I have often told men "Money neither impresses me or keep me...clothes do not make the man but are held together by a simple thread...it is the man himself do not have me find you lacking!" This said I would then ask who is truly rich and sorry to say really the poor..........

[Tate Morgan]

You are a peach I lay my pen in reverence upon the ground beside your feet

[Thomas B. Buckman]

Not all rich/poor men are like this.
Poor men can hate, and rich men can be philanthropists.

Overall, amazing poem...
Great insight.

[lindsay]

This is really so simple and profound. I love the idea. I have thought about this many time, how the rich generally are the greedy "born with a silver spoon" in their mouth type deal and the less fortunate are just trying to get by but are great people. This is really good, I enjoyed this very much.

[Aiden- Aiko- Kiyomi]

I loved this. The structure was great. Sort of a compare and contrast on the specific points. This made me smile, in that someone is not afraid to write of their opinion on PEOPLE, however truthful it may be!

[Sincerely, Alex]

I really like this.

Beautiful.

Alex

[Jessica M.]

I must wonder, are you implying that all who inherit money are innately corrupt? I do hope this is an example of an isolated case or I'm afraid the poem has fallen into prejudice. I completely agree that kindness and hardiness make better qualities in a man than greed and hate, but not all who are well off will be evil. Just as not all who are poor will be good. This poem seems to be playing into centuries old thought that those with money have power and therefore have to be corrupt. You're stepping on a very thin line throughout the entire poem of falling into a similar hate of the rich that the rich have of everyone else. You recover in the end with "What all men wish to be." But I must caution you. This could easily be interpreted in the wrong way.

I like it, don't get me wrong. You just hit a very controversial subject here and I'm wondering about presentation and if there might be a better way to present it so that the writer doesn't seem to have a prejudice against the rich similar to what the rich in the poem have against the poor. Hate only breeds hate, and it would not be a quality a good man would have. Sorry I usually just focus on words, but the content of this one seems to have gotten me.

I believe in the second line of the first stanza "himself" would work better than "him" since I think you're implying the son although I'm not entirely sure. It could be the father. I don't know I just felt it needed some clarification. With the "easy chair" line I thought you meant that the rich man's son was giving a plush job to another not to himself so I got a bit confused later. With the "his" in the second line second stanza are you implying the father or the son? I really love the line "Pushing on what body does allow" that is very well worded and definitely sent the image you were suggesting. Working oneself to near death for one's son definitely does imply virtue. In the third stanza, second line I think that "what" would work better than "all". For the line after that I think it should use a word more like "finding" instead of "thinking". It would show more malice on his part, the "thinking" he would have gotten from his father but I think it takes away some of his independent thought as a human being. I don't know. I can't explain my reason for that one very well. "Chipped of marble character" - fabulous line. Now I must ask, why deteriorate the form in the end? What is the reason? I can't decide if it works or not. I'm always antsy about leaving a form when it has been established in a poem.

All in all, it really was a good poem. It brings up a lot of issues that certainly are worth the time to consider. Sorry about the late response.

[Sean Allen]

Nice to meet you Tate,
I have often thought of the blessing of being poor versus the curse of wealth. Jesus said it better than I ever could as her told the rich man how to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

As Emma said, this is one of those poems that you can read over and over while gaining some understanding from each read. Thank you for writing it!

[emmajoy]

I've read this three times now, and, each time, find words that really get to me, set me thinking. There's softeness and sadness in your poem, and there's a kind of cynicism and desperation - so, there's a lot to think about. What a strange type of pleasure it is to read something with such enormous heart!

I've met all sorts of people over my not so long life, met the types you mention, felt their attitudes on occasions and, at the end of the day I've concluded that it's not where a man comes from that matters but what he is from deep inside. He can be wealthy and have respect for most if not everyone, he can be poor yet have a character and spirit lined with gold.

The words that really reach inside me are: 'What all good men would wish to be.' because in the end, good men will be good whether they're rich or poor.

Trouble is, society needs to understand that.

A superb post, a privilege to share.

[EILEEN McGUINNESS]

You have written an excellent poem here with great ingegrity and true honesty i love the way you compare one man to another and perhaps because the rich man's son has never known any different he is not o be blamed for his insincere and uncaring and selfish attributes here.
The poem flowed very nicely and i think it proved that you study society and the class system and how we all aspire to be better than what we are instead of being content we want success and perhaps in attaining it we become no better than the lord faunteroy's of this world the silver in mouth bunch who think they are not worthy of our company.
A great man once said it is foolish to be wise when a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing when placed in the hands of an ignorant fool.