Sweet, Sweet Charity!

• Artist: Shadow Taurus Matsumoto
• Description: I wrote this after remembering a trip to Washington, D.C., where I saw whole lines of people along the sidewalks, begging for money, wearing rags. One man played an old guitar, trying to get people to donate. I felt bad for the honest ones among those people- they were in America's capital, and scraping a life by begging from tourists.
  
  This is for those people, and those anywhere who are honest people with troubles.
• Date: 08/27/2010
• Tags: sweet sweet charity

Oh, sweet charity! How blindly you give!
To the poor,
The meek,
And the down-trodden.
Sweet charity, sweet giving:
Lend me your coin for food!

I have no dignity, and no faith left to find!
I have three sons to support
And three daughters to add,
Sweet, sweet charitable souls!
I beg of you:
Lend me your ear and coin!

I know not of the rich man’s luxury,
I know only of frugality and bargain.
Never have I spent freely,
For I never had a coin nor freedom to spend.
Blessed giving hands:
Lend me your ear to listen!

Listen, come and listen
To my toil and growling stomach,
To my children’s cries for every meal,
To my love’s holed soles and soul.
Sweet, sweet charity!
Lend me your ear and coin!

Send me a coin, a pound, a euro, sweet charity!
Anything that might afford bread!
Send me faith and strength and patience, sweet Gods!
Anything that might help me through!
Sweet Gods, send your sweet charity!
Lend me your sweet charity, your ear, your coin!

-Taiylor Wallace