Billionaires (A Poem)

Jan 5, 2017

Billionaires

Have they heard the
Ticky tacky thumping sound of
Winter rain on a metal roof
The two-note
Lovesong of a chickadee
Have they smelled
Onions and garlic cooked
By a beloved

Have they soothed
a sick child’s forehead
Thanked a clerk
At the DMV
Helped an elderly couple
Find Epsom salts
At Walmart

Have they changed
Their baby’s diaper
Tended a parent’s bedsore
Begged an attending
Nurse for more medication
For a dying friend

Have they taught
English as a second language
Read books
At an afterschool program
Driven homebound neighbors
To the polls

Have they
Cleaned a litterbox
Shoveled snow
Fixed a running toilet

Have they taken off
Their coat and scarf
Belt and shoes and
Emptied their pockets
For the TSA

Perhaps.
Once upon a time.

Before their billions
Convinced them
They’re a different sort
Much better than
All of this.