Feet
Listen you! This concerns us all;
Poor, wealthy, kind and cruel.
So necessary, yet so neglected;
Greatly used, poorly acknowledged.
Brain, heart, stomach and hand,
Eyes, Tongue and all manner of meat
Sacrifice your pride you lofty band
And pay what is owed to the working feet.
'Why should I hearken? ' remarks the brain,
'I am our memories, knowledge and power.
To me give your ears and from this foolishness refrain
Lest you should stray from hearing my answer.
I, the master, you, my slaves,
I am told what occurs, I tell you what to do.
Without me, you are useless knaves,
So I bid you, ignore that voice untrue! '
'Why should I care? ' purrs the small heart,
'I give our joy, our love and more,
Could you, could you really with me part?
Allow me to decide this matter as you have before.
Those twin workers never have complained,
Not a word from their soul has ever been raised,
They must be merry, for this work were they not trained?
Applaud them not; they need not be praised.'
'Why should I bother? ' belches the stomach,
'I am a worker too, very important and busy!
Yet, e'en with my lack of time, I will say this fact,
I will put these comrades back, out of their reasoning silly.
Look here, my friend, we all have our place,
Each quite noble and well scored,
So now you see by my great grace
That your motto should be: duty is its own reward.'
'Why should I pity? ' spits the hands,
'We are the same, we work alike,
There is no reason why they should grumble on crossing lands!
They are pathetic! Unable to deal with their dislike.
You should try my troublesome job,
You wouldn't tarry long I assure you,
The first challenge, a single sob,
You would be running back, back down low! '
Warned were you! This concerned us all,
Proud, deceptive, insensitive and scornful.
So necessary, yet so neglected;
Greatly used, poorly acknowledged.
Brain, heart, stomach and hand,
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poem by Mark Challenger
Added by Poetry Lover
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