The Cold Within

THE COLD WITHIN

Six humans trapped in happenstance

In dark and bitter cold. Each one possessed a stick of wood,

or so the story's told.

The dying fire in need of logs

The first woman held hers back

For of the faces around the fire,

She noticed one was black.

The next man looking across the way

Saw not one of his church.

And couldn't bring himself to give

the fire his stick of birch.

The third one in tattered clothes

He gave his coat a hitch,

why should his log be put to use,

To warm the idle rich?

The rich man just sat back and thought

Of the wealth he had in store,

And how to keep what he had earned,

From the lazy, shiftless poor.

The black man's face bespoke revenge

As the fire passed from sight,

For all he saw in his stick of wood,

was a chance to spite the white.

The last man of this forlorn group

Did naught except for gain,

Giving only to those who gave,

Was how he played the game.

The logs held tight in death's still hands

Was proof of human sin,

They didn't die from the cold without,

They died from the cold within.


My mother sent this thought provoking poem to me in an email. After reading it, I went on about my day, but the words still kept playing in my head. I dont know why this poem tugged at me so bad. Maybe it was the harsh reality of the truth in it.