The Old Man Poem by Randy McClave

The old man down the street
He mocks the younger people that he does meet,
How like him they never did or will suffer
He cries out, "The government for them has placed a buffer".
When he was younger he cried we never had free lunches
We just rolled with the punches,
And we also never had free healthcare
All that was free for us, was a prayer.
These kids nowadays should serve in the military as me
No matter if it is a he or a she,
Make them all serve in a foreign land
While trying not to lose a foot or maybe a hand.
They should work in the fields when they are five
If not, they now wouldn't be alive,
Picking 20-25 pounds of cotton a day
Or working deep in a coal mine for their pay.
They should all suffer as I once did
But, oh no! may the Lord forbid,
The government always helps them out
I just want to scream and shout.
The government never paid off my loan
I paid off all that I do own,
I sweated and I worried and I paid them off
These kids nowadays at them I just scoff.
They never starved or was inflicted with ailments that I had
They never needed or had troubles and worries felt by me and my dad,
I wish the life and the pain I had was unto them dealt
I wish they truly suffered and experience the paid I felt.

Randy L. McClave