I'm a Christian but . . .

It gets pretty thick when
you’re supposed to eat crow every morning
because some nitpicker wants to sell you
a deal about my brother’s keeper for
a nice fat donation out of your pocket.
I say, let the bastards starve if they
won’t work for a living, nobody helped us,
did they? Just because you pay
your taxes and keep your house
painted and lawn mowed, they think you’ve
got it made. But who knows what’ll happen
to you tomorrow? You’re supposed to dig
into the old sack for a few dollars here
and a few there because some guinea
on the other side of the world lost
his G-string in an earthquake.
Look at my grocery bill,
came in the mail today,
do you blame me for
hollering?

    Original Citation
    The Complete Poems of James Hearst. Ed. Scott Cawelti. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2001. 496.
    Word Count
    129
    Date Published
    2001
    Complete Poems
    496
    Theme(s)
    First Line
    It gets pretty thick when
    Poetic Form
    open