The Top Three on Poverty

Tuesday night will tell the tale -

Will Mitt or Ron or Rick prevail?

The others seem far off the pace,

They are no longer in the race.

But does it really matter who

We give the crown of victory to

since no one seems concerned tonight

about the jobless and their plight.

So many families lost their home

And now they struggle on alone -

Some live in cheap motels, or cars,

Or dirty hovels over bars.

The kids have hollow-looking faces -

They have no sense of where their place is.

The daily challenge they must meet

Is finding something they can eat.

There’s bitter suffering on the street

As families face complete defeat.

What say our Family Values crew?

The ones who lecture me and you

About the sanctity of marriage…

Well, not for gays - that they all disparage.

What words of comfort do they say?

Surely they'll speak out some day.

We're waiting here like stranded dates

For hopeful words from candidates.

Opportunity, I’ve heard Mitt say, 

is coded in our DNA –

But where does opportunity

Reside in a community

where business leaves, where jobs are gone,

where finally, all hope’s withdrawn.

The cycle of poverty, Mitt has spoken,

Can by the strength of families be broken.

But I think you’ve got it wrong, dear Mitt,

The truth is just the opposite –

Poverty and want can break

The strongest bonds that families make.

Dr. Paul is short and brisk –

Everything in life’s a risk

And government should have no role

In lessening the dreadful toll

When people’s dreams just don’t work out:

That’s what churches are about,

So let the folks beset by want

Get help from someone’s wealthy aunt.

Rick Santorum’s two-part scheme

Is just so simple, it’s a dream:

One - go to school and graduate,

Two - get married before you procreate.

With both of these he’ll guarantee

You won’t end up in poverty.

But this of course is not for gays

Their marriage God forbids always.

Our candidates discuss the poor

As if they really weren’t too sure

That they’re just folks like you and me

Who’ve ended up in poverty

For reasons poorly apprehended.

The candidates must have intended

To maintain the common attitudes

That come from right-wing platitudes.

It’s a shame that no one sees

That poverty’s a national disease.