All Things Considered

The day started out okay
But that was before
I opened my mail
And received
A strong dose of
Hatred
From PGW
The local gas company
Letting me know
That they want
To place a lien
On my house
If I do not cough up
What I owe them
Within the next
Eleven days

To take my mind
Off of my financial troubles
I turned on my computer
And I surfed the web
I managed to Google
Some useful
Information
About how to better
Manage
My type 2 diabetes

Seems I am
In good company
There must be millions
Of us type 2 diabetics
All over the earth
Some diagnosed
Some not
Some getting good treatment
Some not
Some getting no treatment
At all
Mores the pity

I was doing okay
Until my doctor
Laid the type 2
Diagnosis on me
Now I am on
Insulin and half a dozen
Other pills
For
High blood pressure
And high cholesterol

In addition to
All of the above
I also take
A daily vitamin pill
A daily fish oil supplement
And a daily aspirin regimen
In the hope of warding off
A heart attack
And/or stroke
Hope springs eternal

Also
I am supposed to exercise
Every day
Every day?
Fat chance of that
Ever happening
Also
I am supposed to eat
More fruits and vegetables
And high fiber foods
Too bad I live
In a food desert
And I buy most
Of my groceries
At the corner bodega
For twice the price
Of everything

And too bad I do not
Have an ACCESS card
Or food stamps
I earn too much cash
To be so poor
Only the poor
Are rich enough
To get the best welfare
Benefits

No wonder the
Tea Party patriots
Hate the poor so much
Calling them
Moochers
The moocher class
They call them

I haven’t heard
Propaganda like that
Since the early sixties
When the wealthy
Were all in a knot
Over welfare queens
And poverty pimps

The Tea Party pimps
Are working on a
Grand manifesto
A final solution
If you will
To deal with the problem
Of the multitudinous poor
Who are breeding
Like rabbits
Breeding like cockroaches

Not to mention
Giving a free pass
To the millions
Of illegal immigrants
Who are taking away
All the good jobs
From real, decent
And above all else
Law abiding citizens

And please
Whatever you do
Don’t get them
Started talking
About the ongoing
Problem of how
To break the Jewish
Strangle hold
On the economy

Forget Joe DiMaggio!
The Tea Partiers
Are pining for the
Good old days of
David Duke!

Please save us
Jerry Farwell
A nation of lonely
Tea Partiers
Turn their lonely
Eyes to you!

So this is what
Depression era America
Circa 2008 - 2011
Looks, feels and smells like?

As W.C. Fields
Was alleged to
Have written
On his tombstone:

All things considered
I’d rather be in
Philadelphia

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2011