So Many Poets Poem by Francis Duggan

So many well known poets pen their poems to the wealthy as if the slum dwellers and the down trod
Were people who were born to be inferior and would always be further down from God
As if to be poor was to be seen unworthy and never worthy of equality
They ought to have a look around the slum parts and have a close up view of poverty.

So many poets write for the Royal Monarchs and in so doing the status quo upkeep
As if all others do not seem to matter and have been born to follow on like sheep
Long dead poets George Crabbe and George R Sims wrote of poor people though their places in literary history insecure
Does this mean for to be a famous writer one has to ignore the sufferings of the poor?

So many poets write of film stars and sporting heroes and heroines as if these people are superior in some way
They insure the survival of class distinction and for their fame with their loss of principle they pay,
They try to take the easy road to success and to promote themselves they never miss the chance
They see the poor as God forsaken people and not the sad victims of circumstance.

So many poets write of Presidents and Prime Ministers and those with such great power at their command
For them no gain in promoting the battlers but their lust for fame I do not understand,
They never write of the mum with five young children on welfare her husband for shoplifting serving time in jail
To ignore her to them seems far more prudent and by their silence as a person her they fail.

So many poets write for the headline makers as for themselves they try to make a name
They know that by writing of the poor and downtrod that they could not hope to reach the hall of fame
And they ignore the luckless and forgotten and those condemned to live in Earthly Hell
But I will always try to tell their story though my rhymes are dismissed as doggerel.