The wealth of a soul is measured by how much it can feel; its poverty by how little.
quote by William R. Alger

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Sonnet: The Magic of Poverty
A birth in poverty is luck supreme!
A death in poverty, a great blessing;
A life of poverty is rare a dream;
Achievements great, stark poverty can bring.
’Tis poverty that goads nations do feats;
’Tis poverty that stimulates scientists;
In everything, poverty, wealth just beats;
The greatest men were in poverty’s lists.
And poverty lessens our worries much;
Account to God will be much easier;
Poverty gives the saint a divine touch;
In poverty, poets can fly higher!
Poverty helps to shun worldly pleasures;
A soul in poverty, Heaven allures.
9-14-2002
poem by John Celes

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The problematic child
Necessity is the mother of invention,
People say. Then we can say like that:
Wealth is the mother of comforts,
And poverty, of meanness.
Wealth is the mother of indolence too.
So is poverty, of viciousness.
Wealth and poverty near by
Deliver discontent,
Which is a problematic child.
04.01.2009
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

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Poverty
To get a card of
Below poverty line
I have to spot a person
Who has a link with Maoists.
Some says the head of the
Government of the state
Is the leader of maoists
Catchhold him seriously.
Who is poor and
How far in poverty
I am not here to
Measured or explain or
Eradicate poverty.
Without poverty the
Functioning of the
Government is difficult
As you know.
To get a card of
Below poverty line
Is to rebuild
The government and
You must agree
The rich how dear.
poem by Gajanan Mishra

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The Shadow Inside My Shadow
poverty is not my cousin,
is not my lover,
is not my preacher,
poverty is not my brother.
poverty is not my prayer,
or the song that i sing
is not my answer
poverty is not my dream.
poverty is not my teacher,
not the hand that i hold.
poverty is not my anger,
not my spirit, not my soul.
ah! but this poverty is real
it races thru my mind
crashes into my heart,
& leaves me deaf and blind.
poverty is my companion.
the aching cold inside my hollow.
the blow behind my eyes,
poverty is the shadow
inside my shadow.
poem by Eric Cockrell

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Spectators Of Poverty
Life spectators
from high living status
with their Owl binocular's eyes
dwell on wealth while munching pie,
Spectate life of I and poverty in a fight
Battling and wrestling for better life,
Life blushed lost sight
Soul kicked outside
The mind suffered
Pieces of I scattered all over
And all they do is intervening with freebies
Everyman for himself!
That's what they said
They fed their pockets with fat
And I was completely sad
They told me remedy is a school
And hereafter life is cool
Only if they know how I feel
This paining merciless sting of poverty
Sinking deep in my life of no property
Just a pauper living in a liberty
filled with constraints
I loath poverty
It's menacles handcuff dreams
It made homies to depend on the bins
Homies are everyday environmental cleaners, collecting boxes and tins
to scrapyard
Almost all adults and teens
On their shoulders with heavy beams
of poverty
And left spectators to relish life of kings
Damn spectators and poverty!
Damn!
poem by Mojalefa Owami Mogakane

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We have mistaken the nature of poverty, and thought it was economic poverty. No, it is poverty of soul, deprivation of God's recreating, loving peace.
quote by Thomas R. Kelly

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Darker Side Of Sydney
There's more than glitz and glamour to Australia's biggest city Sydney has it's darker side
I've seen so many young people there their lives by drugs and booze destroyed
By trees in small parks and dimly lit laneways they sleep on the hard and bare ground
Near to where there's wealth and opulence there's great poverty to be found.
Many seem to think that for their poverty they only have themselves to blame
That they are lacking in their self worth and do not have a sense of shame
That they spend all of their welfare money on the buying of narcotics and booze
But it doesn't seem right to judge somebody if you have not walked in their shoes.
For to support their vices they must sleep rough and live on the cheap
And in the laneway off of Bourke St on the hard concrete they sleep
Yet I dare not criticize them and of them can only say
That they are the less fortunate of people and in life have lost their way.
One could say that their vices for them are now out of their control
But the weakness of the flesh is not a weakness of the soul
The soul of the poor and down and out despite the body's disrepair
Can have far more depth and feeling than the soul of the millionaire.
Australia's largest city to so many a sense of pride
But despite it's wealth and opulence Sydney has a darker side
And where there is glitter and glamour such great poverty abound
And far too many people living poor there and sleeping rough on the bare ground.
poem by Francis Duggan

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Forms of Wealth
To money is attributed wealth
But the open truth of wealth
Is, It is not the only kind of wealth—
There are also other forms of wealth!
Good health is the best form of wealth
Forging rich links in relationships is wealth
Spontaneous love for all life forms is wealth
To have enthusiasm in life is wealth.
Acquiring life-long learning is wealth
Experience and wisdom in life is wealth
Meeting new people is also wealth
Visiting new places too is authentic wealth.
The quest to explore something is wealth
To have a positive mind-set is wealth
Existence of deep internal peace is wealth
Early morning waking up with joy is wealth.
Possessing high self-respect is wealth
Having strong spiritual connection is wealth
There exist so many types of wealth
Constitute all these and you're with full wealth!
poem by Chandra Thiagarajan

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Golden Bird, Painted Black
From beginning I heard
India was a golden bird,
Mughals, Britishers arrived
Looted wealth and destroyed
As she had wealth natural
Precious stones and pearl
Real gold, range of mineral
And knowledge of spiritual.
Hard work of noble citizens
Has mounted wealth again
But many citizens still feel pity
They are to live below poverty.
The amount involved in scams
Amount brought to Swiss bank,
Can run India totally tax free,
Not less the decades of three.
As said hundred trillion rupees
Is deposited in banks of Swiss,
Mere interest at Indian bank rate,
Can change poor people’s fate.
People below poverty can
Easily get per capita income.
India was a bird of gold,
India is still a bird of gold
But in black, it is painted
Her worthyness is dented.
If this black is removed,
Will again shine like gold.
poem by S.D. Tiwari

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What Is The Value Of Money?
Money we all know is a medium of exchange
Buyers and sellers relate to each other through money
The question here is – what is the value of money?
Few say money is the root of all evil
Many say money is the root of prosperity
And how valuable is money
Almost everything is measured by money
People go to work everyday because of money
Wealth of individuals is measured by money
All purchases and transactions are made by money
Every country has a name for its own money
The importance of some countries
In based on the value of their money
What is the value of money?
The rise and fall of foreign exchange
Is used to measure the value of money
Success to many is also measured by money
Corporate positions are measured by money
There are some people who marry for money
What is the value of money?
To many, money is everything
You cannot get many things done without money
Many have pondered and contemplated to ask
Can human beings live without money?
Then, how shall we determine and decide
The prices of individuals and materials
Differences between the rich and the poor
Are calculated in monetary terms
The power bestowed by money
Seems bigger than imagined
poem by Julius Babarinsa

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Poverty In The 21st Century
It’s the 21st century
The media displays it day and night,
Poverty.
Poverty across the globe lies
Poverty cries out from the belly of little boys
Little girls, parents too
Desperately searching for food,
Shelter, clothing, for love,
Companion, for attention
Those with plenty, refuse
To amend, a world haunted by
Poverty.
Is poverty affecting the rich?
Are their poverty the same
As the poor in financial constrains?
For they, too, poverty of love
I see poverty in the learned
I see poverty in those whose
Selfish acts are destroying society.
I see poverty in all level of humanity
The world is still an imperfect place
Yet life is still beautiful, the wind
Blows, we see it not, give thanks
For what you possess, now go,
Help if you can along the way,
Help to eradicate poverty
In your surrounding, widen
Your boundary across your
Country, to nations of the world.
Help to fight poverty, now!
poem by Winston Harding

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Poverty is a promicuous woman
I have seen poverty
And my eyes can not bear another stare
For she is ugly and oozes with the stench of repulse
Irritable to the point of regurgitation
My bowels can not stand such disgust
so i must stay afar to preserve my health
For it may not stand the complete absence of wealth
This poverty is a promiscuous woman
Whose fancy is laziness
Quick to the call of men with retired hands
And feeble legs
She is a vector of countless infirmities
Way beyond the worries of the flesh
A possessor of nauseating infections
That eats into greater depths
As the soul and spirit become helpless victims as well
poem by Fidelis Nwaugba

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Compared To Most I Feel So Lucky
Compared to most I feel so lucky I never have known hunger pain
I've always had a warm bed to sleep in and I've never slept out in the rain
In a World where millions are homeless and millions live in poverty
I am one of the lucky people one of the privileged minority.
In a World where the poor are forgotten and where millions for success compete
Millions are slowly dying of malnutrition their dream is enough food to eat
The suburb of the wealthy and famous the breeding ground of self conceit
By motor car only a short drive from the squalor of Poverty Street.
Compared to most I am so lucky though I'll never be a millionaire
Lady Luck she has always been with me and by life I've been treated fair
The distribution of wealth is disgraceful the reason for inequality
Compared to most I am so lucky I do feel life's been good to me.
I may not have an abundance of money but I have enough of it for to get by
I do feel the tag of Mr Lucky to one like me has to apply
Compared to most I feel quite privileged I do not have any cause to complain
Lady Luck has always been with me and with me I hope she remain.
poem by Francis Duggan

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Poem Of Our Souls
Our seeking went beyond
sheding of tears,
out of enough we lost
jugdment, pain of the past
has thoroughly touch
me in an unpeaceful
place...
Penury and poverty has
turn me into mischief,
richies yet penury disagree
my wealth
our jubilation don't last
long yet tribulation
cometh
in notime,
poverty can jubilate without
fear of jugdment.
Penury.....
Penury has eatup
our plenty, poverty
now call us poor
poverty creeps into our
life and eat, drink
what we had left
in our store yet
he still pronounce us
penury.
Our souls walks alone
kings seeks shelter in
th darkcold wintet
calling on motherearth
to favour our pocket
puting penny into
penury still nothing can
change by chance
poem of our
souls'.
poem by Senator alufalism

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The Offer
'Tell me, would you rather be
Changed by a fairy to the fine
Young orphan heiress Geraldine,
Or still be Emily?
'Consider, ere you answer me,
How many blessings are procured
By riches, and how much endured
By chilling poverty.'
After a pause, said Emily:
'In the words orphan heiress I
Find many a solid reason why
I would not changëd be.
'What though I live in poverty,
And have of sisters eight-so many,
That few indulgencies, if any,
Fall to the share of me:
'Think you that for wealth I'd be
Of even the least of them bereft,
Or lose my parent, and be left
An orphaned Emily?
'Still should I be Emily,
Although I looked like Geraldine;
I feel within this heart of mine
No change could workëd be.'
poem by Charles Lamb

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My Bowl Be Shared!
if wealth causes indifference,
apathy, and insulated selfish behavior...
let me be poor until i die.
let me be rich in my poverty...
and feel every small wound,
share every small sorrow,
dance with every small joy...
let me struggle with my brothers
to find human simple dreams.
let me feel companionship,
both the good and the bad.
and let me sleep with caring....
let my hands get dirty,
let my bowl be shared!
poem by Eric Cockrell

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Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of soul, impossible.
quote by Michel de Montaigne

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.
quote by Mother Teresa

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Not Everyone Can Be Famous
Not everyone can be famous though many yearn for fame
In a World where millions do die without a penny to their name
And that any hope of an egalatarian Human World cannot exist cannot be denied
Whilst the gap between the haves and the have nots is growing ever wide
Their dreams of great wealth and fame millions do pursue
But for many of course such dreams never come true
And many who have great dreams die in poverty
For dreams are just dreams that's how it seems to be
Around the World today in every village, city and town
People daydream of great things of wealth and renown
And though to live in poverty only the saintlike would choose
For one for to win many destined to lose
To achieve in a big way seems a human need
And though many strive for success only few do succeed.
poem by Francis Duggan

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Passionate Poverty
To some people poverty makes you repulsive
Because you own no tangible property to share;
Nothing to entertain and feed their compulsive
Profligacy of which you're unaware.
Poverty makes you glitter and truly
Human and affectionate because you value people
For who they are and their true worth, really
And from your heart and soul altruism quintuple.
Poverty peels off humbug and complacency
To expose the deeper layers of personality
Filled with genuine compassion and human decency
And poverty befriends simplicity, humanity and humility.
poem by John Sensele

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