Poverty With Pride

Here we are in September, and I’m still hanging in there with my post a day challenge. I have written a lot of poetry using different styles since I started in January. I’m not saying it has been great poetry. I’ll admit most of it wouldn’t win any contests. Surprisingly, Word Daddy has stuck with me through the ordeal. He still says he wants a raise. This month I plan to write Soliloquies. These are rambling monologues where the poet has conversations with herself. I believe this will be my biggest challenge since I don’t often talk to myself. I want to put a disclaimer right at the front of the adventure. The views expressed are the inner dialog of the poet. They might be total bs, but they are real. The first poem in this series I will call Poverty With Pride.

Poverty With Pride

I have always lived with the unclean

Relegated to a place in line by my zip code

Judged by those in power sight unseen

To be the carrier of a heavier load.

Given hope that if I improved myself

I might end up with a better package,

But I remained on the lower less desirable shelf

Because I must come with excess baggage.

Education didn’t lift me up

Working harder didn’t pay.

So, I decided to drink my bitter cup,

And started out on a different way.

I learned from you

Your condescending compliments while playing the fool

I decided what not to do

No longer to play the game of being your tool

Still, I glory in the my people, the untouchable

The low-class people you push aside

The climate these days is combustible

I will wear my poverty with pride.

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

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