A Riddle
I'm wealthy and poor,
I'm empty and full,
I'm humble and proud,
I'm witty and dull.
I'm foul and yet fair:
I'm old, and yet young;
I lie with Moll Kerr,
And toast Mrs. Long.
poem by Jonathan Swift
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The Poor Is Wealthy
Blessings upon them conceived,
And the rich becomes empty,
By the root of evil they are deceived.
The humble rejoice,
Knowing life in the balance
Prayers are answered with grace,
Gods will in our conscience.
Whatever you magnify,
Will become your god,
The poor is wealthy,
Sometimes they are sad.
When their eyes are wet,
Like blur violet, it's hard to be proud
Feeling totally inadequate,
The poor put their trust in God.
Blessed are the poor in spirit;
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Those who recognize they have no credit
There is treasure stored up for them.
Some are rich and have acquired wealth,
God chosen those who are poor,
In the eyes of the world to be rich in faith,
And inherit a kingdom on the celestial shore.
poem by Gerry Legister
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Anger makes dull men witty, but it keeps them poor.
quote by Elizabeth I
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Crazy Jane Talks With The Bishop
I met the Bishop on the road
And much said he and I.
'Those breasts are flat and fallen now,
Those veins must soon be dry;
Live in a heavenly mansion,
Not in some foul sty.'
'Fair and foul are near of kin,
And fair needs foul,' I cried.
'My friends are gone, but that's a truth
Nor grave nor bed denied,
Learned in bodily lowliness
And in the heart's pride.
'A woman can be proud and stiff
When on love intent;
But Love has pitched his mansion in
The place of excrement;
For nothing can be sole or whole
That has not been rent.'
poem by William Butler Yeats
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Anger makes dull men witty, but it keeps them poor.
quote by Queen Elizabeth I
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Anger makes dull men witty, but it keeps them poor.
quote by Francis Bacon
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Different Law
For the wealthy and poor there's a different law
Though on that your own conclusion you can draw
You may think my comments are not very fair
But this is my view and my view I will air
Save for some cases of proven murder money does never fail
And money is known to keep people from jail
Many poor people are in jail for a minor offence
They can't afford a lawyer for to fight their defence
'Tis powerful paper money for to give it fair due
And that money does speak every language does seem only true
The wealthy and poor the law treats differently
Though with what I say here many would disagree
The reason you don't find many millionaires in a jail
Is that the influence of money seldom does seem to fail.
poem by Francis Duggan
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For at least another hundred years we must pretend to ourselves and to every one that fair is foul and foul is fair; for foul is useful and fair is not. Avarice and usury and precaution must be our gods for a little longer still.
quote by John Maynard Keynes
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Anger makes dull men witty, but it keeps them poor.
Francis Bacon in Apophthegms (1625)
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Toast Of The Town
Hey, hey, hey
Hey kid, the whole house is shakin
We got the time, right in our sights
Hey, hey, hey
Hey kid, the worlds gone crazy but you know
It wont last too long
You know it wont last too long
You know it wont last too long
You know it wont last too long
Hey kid, youre the toast of the town
Well hey kid, youre the toast of the town
Hey, hey, hey
Hey kid, whats it gonna get ya
Screaming through the hours of the night
Hey kid, the worlds gone crazy
But you know it wont last too long
You know it wont last too long
You know it wont last too long
You know it wont last too long
Hey kid, youre the toast of the town
Well hey kid, youre the toast of the town
You heard me sayin baby dont be a fool
I got news for you
Well pack your things baby, dont be a fool
Before it crashes down on you
Down on you
Down on you
Down on you
(guitar solo)
Come on
Well hey kid, youre the toast of the town
Well hey kid, youre the toast of the town
Well hey kid, youre the toast of the town
Well hey kid, youre the toast of the town
Well hey kid
song performed by by Motley Crue
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The Children Of Poor And Dysfunctional Parents
The children of poor and dysfunctional parents of any success in life stand little chance
The odds seem stacked against them by their birth circumstance
For them life is an uphill battle a struggle every day
The lady of luck and fortune does never smile their way
Though some wealthy parents can also be dysfunctional it does seem fair to say
That the child born to such parents at least financially will be okay
For those who say money speaks every language are saying what is true
People respect people with money though respect they may not be due,
Pity the poor children who become homeless at a young age and become institutionalized
For most of them their full potential is never realized
In a fair Human World this would never be
By circumstance of birth I feel that good luck was with me
There are millions of homeless children in the World of today
Due to their circumstance of birth in which they had no say.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Born poor, but of honored and humble people, I am particularly proud to die poor.
quote by Pope John XXIII
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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He wonders whether to praise or to blame her
I have peace to weigh your worth, now all is over,
But if to praise or blame you, cannot say.
For, who decries the loved, decries the lover;
Yet what man lauds the thing he's thrown away?
Be you, in truth, this dull, slight, cloudy naught,
The more fool I, so great a fool to adore;
But if you're that high goddess once I thought,
The more your godhead is, I lose the more.
Dear fool, pity the fool who thought you clever!
Dear wisdom, do not mock the fool that missed you!
Most fair, - the blind has lost your face for ever!
Most foul, - how could I see you while I kissed you?
So . . . the poor love of fools and blind I've proved you,
For, foul or lovely, 'twas a fool that loved you.
poem by Rupert Brooke (1913)
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The Downfall Of Human Kind
The downfall of human kind it would seem to me
Are greed and corruption, homelessness and poverty
And patriotism and religion and National pride
All of these things lead to war and they are World-wide.
In a World where millions are dying of hunger and disease
The refugee camps are full of refugees
Millions displaced due to war and famine of great suffering they know
The people fleeing war zones with nowhere to go.
Even in so called wealthy Nations poverty is rife
And the ruthless look on the poor as the losers in life
Far too many homeless on poverty street
With nowhere to live and with little to eat.
Some grow wealthy and successful though they lie and cheat
The capitalist system has failed us complete
Thousands must grow poorer for every new millionaire
Do not tell me that the capitalist system is fair.
So much poverty in the big World out there
And so many are living in hopeless despair
But one falsehood with some sadness we recall
The lie we believed of a 'fair go for all'.
poem by Francis Duggan
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The Foolish Elm
The bold young Autumn came riding along
One day where an elm-tree grew.
'You are fair,' he said, as she bent down her head,
'Too fair for your robe's dull hue.
You are far too young for a garb so old;
Your beauty needs color and sheen.
Oh, I would clothe you in scarlet and gold
Befitting the grace of a queen.
'For one little kiss on your lips, sweet elm,
For one little kiss, no more,
I would give you, I swear, a robe more fair
Than ever a princess wore.
One little kiss on those lips, my pet,
And lo! you shall stand, I say,
Queen of the forest, and, better yet,
Queen of my heart alway.'
She tossed her head, but he took the kiss-
'Tis the way of lovers bold-
And a gorgeous dress for that sweet caress
He gave ere the morning was old.
For a week and a day she ruled a queen
In beauty and splendid attire;
For a week and a day she was loved, I ween,
With the love that is born of desire.
Then bold-eyed Autumn went on his way
In search of a tree more fair;
And mob winds tattered her garments and scattered
Her finery here and there.
Poor and faded and ragged and cold
She rocked in her wild distress,
And longed for the dull green gown she had sold
For her fickle lover's caress.
And the days went by and Winter came,
And his tyrannous tempests beat
On the shivering tree, whose robes of flame
He had trampled under his feet.
I saw her reach up to the mocking skies
Her poor arms, bare and thin;
Ah, well-a-day! it is ever the way
With a woman who trades with sin.
poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
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Love And Beauty: II: To The Same
Oh Soul! that this fair flower dost so mirrour,
Ask of thyself, saying-'Soul beautiful,
Oh Soul-in-love, oh happy, happy Soul,
That wert so dull and poor, and this sweet hour
Art so more floral even than a flower,
That in thee it is better'd to a full,
Whereto each former rose is poor and dull,
Ah, what doth thus enlarge thee and empower,
That thou who, at thy most, wert a priesthood,
A vassal strength, a bliss feudàtory,
Hast grown a final joy, an absolute good,
A god that, for being god, believest in God
The more?' Thou canst not clear this mystery,
Ah happy, happy soul, whose fruit of life is nigh.
poem by Sydney Thompson Dobell
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Just Wealthy Whingers
Why do some very wealthy people see fit for to complain
When they already have more than enough seems beyond me to explain
Since to whinge they do not have a reason it does occur to me
That their money is not an antidote for their spiritual poverty
Worth millions in money and assets but it does seem sad to say
That their type more to be pitied spiritually poor in their small way
Like 'tis said much always wants more in their case this does apply
Why some wealthy people crave for more I really wonder why
Not far from their leafy suburb live the poor of poverty street
The homeless and the down and outs who never have enough to eat
Five hundred thousand dollars in yearly profit after tax and they complain for us not a good year
The more some have the more some want or so it does appear
They are just wealthy whingers some are so hard to please
In a World where millions of poor people are dying of hunger and disease.
poem by Francis Duggan
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The So Called Good Economic Managers
Due to Government mismanagement we see a society in decay
And the wealthy at the expense of the poor get wealthier it should never be that way
In so called affluent Western Nations people live rough on the street
Without a place to call home to out of rubbish bins they eat.
The Government due to so called good economic management get re-elected but the poor getting more poor
And for the youth of the poor Suburbs job opportunities are fewer
And many young people never find employment because of their address
And lack of career opportunities give rise to feelings of hopelessness.
Life is tough for those in the poor Suburbs where poverty is rife
From the day that they are born they must struggle on through life
The Monarch became Monarch due to birthright doesn't life seem so unfair
Whilst millions are dying of hunger in the bigger World out there.
The so called good economic managers are back in power again
But from their good economic management only the wealthy gain
And even in so called wealthy Western Nations there is widespread poverty
And more people dying of malnutrition than ever before in the twenty first century.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Like that
Was it being empty of everything
or being full of everything,
when the song came during washing-up?
Was it being empty of everything
or being full of everything,
when the tourist outside the school door
glanced as if expecting nothing but the good?
Was it being empty of everything
or being full of everything,
when there was nowhere else but here?
Was it being empty of everything
or being full of everything
when there was no when or where
or why or what or how or who?
Who is to say? It was like that. Like that.
poem by Michael Shepherd
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Old Man So Young
Old man so young
Old tricks, new belt, old bag o’ nails
New shoes, same feet, now going flat
To me, a young man, so full of heart
An old man full of himself, just hisself
Old man so young
Old skin, new cells, old bag o’ bones
New hat, same eyes, now needing sight
To me, a young hero, rising from scarring fights
A rich man full of himself, just hisself
Old man so young
Old voice, new teeth, old bag o’ sand
New hip, same dance, soul in his veins
To me, a young baron, whose time will long reign
An epic full of himself, just hisself
030108
poem by Sylvi Sylva
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In A Human World Where Many Grow Poorer
In a Human World where many grow poorer for one to become a millionaire
Who can blame the forgotten have nots for thinking that life is unfair
The homeless poor of the big city to survive have to battle the odds
Many of them die in their twenties the children of the lesser gods,
The children of disadvantaged parents for them no such a thing as a fair go
A good home and a good education of such things they never will know
Compared to them I feel so lucky one might say a fortunate man
I have never been hungry or homeless at anytime in my life span
For the wealthy to grow wealthier the poor must grow poorer in a fair Human World this would not be
Far too many are disadvantaged and condemned to live in poverty
Even in the so called wealthy Nations the hidden poverty is rife
By circumstance of birth far too many are condemned to a miserable life
'Tis true enough we are mere mortals and to the scythe of the Reaper we fall
But in a Human World where many grow poorer no such a thing as a fair go for all.
poem by Francis Duggan
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