Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN POVERTY STREET, by ELLIOTT FLOWER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN POVERTY STREET, by                    
First Line: It's dirty, ill-smelling
Last Line: In poverty street.
Subject(s): Charity; Poverty; Sacrifices; Philanthropy


IT'S dirty, ill-smelling,
Its fellows the same,
With hardly a dwelling
Deserving the name;
It's noisy and narrow,
With angles replete —
Not straight as an arrow
Is Poverty Street.

Its houses are battered,
Unheated and small,
While children all tattered
Respond to the call;
There's nothing inviting
That's likely to greet
The stranger alighting
In Poverty Street.

But something redeeming
Lies under it all;
Ambition is dreaming
In some little hall;
Some mother is praying
Successes may meet
The boy who is playing
In Poverty Street.

Some fathers, depriving
Themselves of all joys,
Are valiantly striving
For sake of their boys;
Some sisters and brothers,
In sacrifice sweet,
Are living for others
In Poverty Street.

And ever and always
Is charity shown,
In alleys or hallways
None suffer alone;
For sorrow no blindness
The suffering meet;
There's millions — in kindness —
In Poverty Street.

Though lacking in glory
And lacking in art,
There's many a story
Appeals to the heart;
And years that are blighting
With tales of defeat
Find heroes still fighting
In Poverty Street.





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