The Wealthy And The Poor Man Poem by Randy McClave

One cold night a wealthy man met a poor man outside
He asked him, 'don't you feel coldness on your hide',
You're out here in the elements and your not even wearing warm clothes;
Are you not froze?
The poor man replied, 'I don't have warm clothes, but I got used to that'
As I got use to not having a home or even a doormat,
And as I got use to not having new shoes to wear
And how I got use to the names people called me as they did stare.
The rich man then replied, 'Wait for me! '
'I will enter my house and I will bring you a warm coat and warm you will be',
'And from the cold you will not be shivering or shaking'
'And your bones and teeth will stop their aching'.
The poor man got happy and excited and said that he will wait for him
He smiled as he didn't for once felt sad or lonely or grim,
And the poor man just waited outside of the rich man's house
And he stood and waited and was as quiet as a mouse.
The rich man entered into his house and then he got busy and forgot
All about the poor man and the warm jacket that he had sought,
The rich man warmed himself in his house and then fell asleep that night
And he felt at peace and and at ease, all right
In the morning when the rich man awoke he remembered that poor man
And the promise that he made which was his plan,
He then went out to search for him, but he found him dead because of cold
And clutching a note is all that that the poor man did hold.

'When I didn't have any warm clothes, I had the power to fight
I got use to the cold, so I fought it with all of my might,
So, unto that darkness and coldness I got use to
And I didn't look or felt sad or cold or even depressed which is true.
When you promised to help me, I got attached to your promise
And that took my power of resisting away from being a doubting Thomas,
A promise to you might not mean anything to you at all
But, it did mean everything to someone else, before their fall.'

Randy L. McClave