Before The Making Of A Dollar Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Standards valued today,
And what they 'should' be...
Have definitely changed,
From what those same values...
Applied yesterday.
Had been and use to be.

And in 'those' days...
A having of dignity and pride,
Was shown and not denied.
And depending on who you are...
A pride taken in oneself,
Will be labelled conceit and arrogance.
Again...
This depends one how one is depicted.
And 'what' one represents.

To emphasis those values...
Only when they seem to be demeaned,
By a targeted class of people hip hopping on the scene...
Society chooses to belittle and disrespect.
With a media microscoping to defame and diminish.

However...
Those same values are not kept,
When addressing those who believe they are above others...
When marketing their disgrace,
To advertise high on billboards, movies...
And other 'money grabbing' ways up in everyone's face.

Standards valued today,
And what they 'should' be...
Have definitely changed,
From what those same values...
Applied yesterday.
Had been and use to be.
Before the making of a dollar,
Replaced the making of quality human beings.