Oh! Dear Mr. John Di Poem by Joe Sadeghloo

You sympathizer, empathizer, protector,
defender of the poor super rich people!

Oh! Heaven knows, I feel their pain
We feel their pain, we wish upon them
no more sufferings! No matter what!
Have you heard the difference between
The rich people and the poor people?
Actually, it's hard to say,
Both have big balloon bellies
One from overeating,
Other from undereating!
Of course! The one which is related to the famishment!

Oh! Dear Mr. John Di
Your essays always bring tears to my eyes
Especially the one you wrote on December 8th 2012
In Illinois Review,
Titled 'We Do Need 'The Rich's' Money'.

Oh! Dear Mr. John Di!
It was the best of times,
It was the worst of times,
I for one hate to see the poor super rich suffer
Even those who own, one way or another
the Hiltons, Waldorf Astorias, Plazas...

You see, they don't need to stay there,
They own them!
They own those fancy restaurants too!
Even the taxi cabs!
Not to mention stock shares of this and that
multinational.

They own their own exclusive clubs,
Most of us do not even get a chance
to pass by their gates. They're way out of our reach!
You see, in order to be one of them,
you have to have lots of it, I mean lots of it!
Here and there, in this island, in that island
In those little tax free hide aways,
In Swit, no, Sweet-something land! The heaven on earth!

Oh! Dear Mr. John Di,
They could even own us, the poor super rich people!
We could be working for them...
We know their sufferings, so that's why we insisted,
I 'emphasize', insisted not to receive health insurance,
pension plans, one or two weeks paid vacations,
not even paid holidays..., Just like the way it has always been...

Oh! Dear Mr. John Di,
We understood their sufferings,
We didn't deserve any benefits in addition to our modest wages,
We just didn't want them to suffer...
We are tough!
We have learned to put up with the hard times,
We have survived throughout the years, decades! centuries...
We are tough! Very tough!

Oh! Dear Mr. John Di,
You protector of the poor super rich people
When I am old and frail,
I won't even be expecting a monthly Social Security Check
To pay off my rent to my super scrooge landlord,
That won't be fair, no one has to suffer for me
Rich or poor
I had the chance to save up for my old age
I blew it! !

You see, Dear Mr. John Di,
We are and we can always live in a time
where we could reclaim Dickens's times:

'It was the best of times,
It was the worst of times,
It was the age of wisdom,
It was the age of foolishness,
It was the epoch of belief,
It was the epoch of incredulity,
It was the season of Light,
It was the season of Darkness...'

Oh! Dear Mr. John Di
May Lord bless us all in this Season Of Giving,
No sufferings for the rich, nor for the poor!
Amen!