.

But What of Us?

They have it all,
The richest men on earth.
No calculator can compute their worth.
Yet doomed to fall.
And it’s no secret why.
For rich men, just like you and me, will die.
 
Their wealth immense.
With vast, tax-free amounts
Secured in stocks and offshore bank accounts.
It makes no sense,
For them to own so much
And wield such power with their Midas touch.
 
But what of us
Who live from day to day?
Whose words mean less than what those rich folk say.
Is this what jus-
tice is for us today?
How powerless it is to feel this way.
 
What can we do,
When rich and famous give
Us lectures as to how we are to live?
They are so few,
But herd us like we’re sheep,
Too timid to resist a state so deep.
 
It’s up to me
And you to call their bluff
And stare them down and say, “Enough’s Enough!”
For liberty
Empowers us to claim
The right to throw them out and end their game.
 
A dream to sell . . .
But sometimes dreams come true,
When ordinary folk like me and you
Will one day tell
Each so-called so-and-so
How they should live and where they all can go.

.

.

James A. Tweedie is a retired pastor living in Long Beach, Washington. He has written and published six novels, one collection of short stories, and three collections of poetry including Mostly Sonnets, all with Dunecrest Press. His poems have been published nationally and internationally in The Lyric, Poetry Salzburg (Austria) Review, California Quarterly, Asses of Parnassus, Lighten Up Online, Better than Starbucks, Dwell Time, Light, Deronda Review, The Road Not Taken, Fevers of the Mind, Sparks of Calliope, Dancing Poetry, WestWard Quarterly, Society of Classical Poets, and The Chained Muse. He was honored with being chosen as the winner of the 2021 SCP International Poetry Competition.

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16 Responses

  1. Norma Pain

    “But What of Us”, takes all of the thoughts that bounce around inside my head, and arranges them into a perfect poem that should speak to everyone that has a working brain and goad them into action, to say “enough is enough”. Thank you for this James.

    Reply
  3. Roy Eugene Peterson

    I have no bone to pick with people just because they are rich. I do have one to pick, though, with those like Soros and Gates who use their immense wealth to influence news organizations, societal trends, and politicians to do their ill-conceived bidding! I would love to tell “Each so-called so-and-so,
    “How they should live and where they all can go.” Those are the ones I have always thought that if I gained wealth, I would counter them by purchasing national news media organizations and eliminate the lies of the left. I still do not understand why Trump and others of a conservative bent do not take them over. Your poem plays well to the populist sentiment.

    Reply
  4. Joseph S. Salemi

    The evil of some rich men is not the fact that they have vast funds. The evil of these men is that they have wrong and sick ideas, and use their funds to promote such ideas.

    Reply
  6. Julian D. Woodruff

    Why are there so many who are convinced Soros, Gates, Scwab and their like have got it right? Those are the people whose minds must be changed … somehow.

    Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      There are many stupid people who will say or do anything to be recognized as allies of the very rich and powerful. Their assumption is that great wealth is a sign that someone is super-intelligent and blessed by providence. This is especially true in the United States, where we worship financial success as a mark of God’s “election.” Check out our Low-Church Calvinist tradition dating back to the Pilgrims.

      Reply
  7. David Paul Behrens

    Nice poem, Mr. Tweedie!

    A few verses pertaining to this subject from the middle of an old poem entitled The Way It Goes:

    Some of us starve, some relax,
    No matter how the wind blows.
    Rich and poor, those are the facts,
    And that’s just the way it goes.

    Many people have no homes.
    Some spend a fortune on clothes.
    One will find, wherever he roams,
    That’s just the way that it goes.

    From poverty, we look away,
    Not our problem, we suppose.
    So easy for us to say
    That’s just the way that it goes.

    Life is unfair, just a touch,
    And not all inequity shows.
    Do not worry all that much,
    That is just the way it goes.

    David Paul Behrens

    Reply
  8. Cynthia Erlandson

    This is just delightful, James, and not only because the content made my smile burst into a laugh at the end. I also love the form you’ve used. I love that the first and second, and fourth and fifth, lines add up to five meters together, but are divided into two and three meters, so as to make the rhyme scheme a-b-b-a-c-c. It’s a fun and different way to do internal rhyme.

    Reply
    • James A. Tweedie

      Cynthia, I’m glad you spotted the internal rhyme amidst the overarching pentameter of the poem. It added a bit of a challenge but, as you point out, it was both a “fun” and “different” way to go.

      Reply
  9. Margaret Coats

    I consider the form of the poem its most attractive aspect, but there is also significant phrasing, such as “sheep too timid to resist a state so deep.” That tells us wealth has bought and consolidated power, but also accuses persons with ordinary means of lacking virtue to resist the bad ideas and plans of rich evildoers. And then there are those who seem to profess neutrality (not mentioned in the poem, but numerous). These are both rich and poorer persons who ignore the situation, abet whatever is evil by silence, and fail to do whatever good they could do with the means they have. The mystery behind the inaction of the masses? Thought provoking, James.

    Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      A great deal or preparatory work was done to render the masses incapable of fighting the triumph of left-liberal tyranny. Our public schools (which R.P. Oliver called “boob-hatcheries”) were long ago taken over by Deweyites in methodology, and leftists in ideology. As a result, countless persons were rendered inarticulate in expression and ignorant of history — the two prime requisites for creating a class of silent serfs.

      Reply
  10. David Hollywood

    This is a wonderfully indignant poem with its ‘clear off’ theme to which I subscribe, while also loving the last stanza where you tell them where to go. Great balance between feeling and thought. I loved it. Many thanks.

    Reply
  11. C.B Anderson

    Well, James, we must always bear in mind two (not quite Biblical) sayings I have encountered in my readings and listenings: “The rich will always be with us” and “The Golden Rule — He who has the gold makes the rules.”

    Reply
  12. Patricia Allred

    James, I apply this to the current President of the USA, and certain members of Congress, example, Pelosi. These “clowns” are on a high horse! Telling us all what we can, or cannot do! Baloney!
    As far as personal business people, good for them. I did not have the brains nor the drive to dream, and build a business! For example, does Ford
    Tell us what to do, NO! Love the Bank of America. Do they tell you what to do? NO! Politicians, fat, wallet, and no morals will tell you what to do.
    I know several millionaires, that contribute to life on this planet! They don’t tell anyone what to do. I deserve the life I created. What the clowns in Congress need is to get a life and get off our backs.
    Don’t Americans know, that we are throwing billions in the Ukraine? And the world bank actually ,,,our money, tossed like feathers. And the children growing up today, are going to pay for the clowns in Congress and that idiot of a president.. we are not a communist country where everybody gets the same amount of money. What are people thinking, James?
    Communism is pitting the rich against the poor. Class warfare? I am an American and I don’t believe in rich vs, poor …thank you, for hearing me out! James

    Reply
  13. James A. Tweedie

    Patricia,

    Sometimes it’s good to vent a little! I vent through my poetry. Perhaps you can do the same? Give it a go. Write a poem and post it here at SCP. I guarantee that you will feel refreshed and renewed as your muse inspires you to speak your mind with a poetic flair!

    Reply

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