THE COLD WITHIN

Six humans trapped by happenstance in dark and bitter cold
Each possessed a stick of wood — or so the story's told.
Their dying fire in need of logs, but the first one held hers back,
For, of the faces around the fire, she noticed one was black.

The next one looked cross the way saw one not of his church,
And could not bring himself to give the fire his stick of birch.
The third one sat 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 wealth he had in store,
And keeping all that he had earned from the lazy, shiftless poor.
The black man's face bespoke revenge as the fire passed from his sight,
For he saw in his stick of wood a chance to spite the white.

And the last man of this forlorn group did naught except for gain,
Giving just to those who gave was how he played the game.

Their sticks held tight in death's stilled hands
Was proof enough of sin;
They did not die from cold without —
They died from cold within.

~By James Patrick Kinney

Regarding the identity of the poet, the following letter appeared in a Dear Abby column on October 25, 1999:

DEAR ABBY: My husband, James Patrick Kinney, wrote the poem "The Cold Within" in the 1960s. It is gratifying to know he left something behind that others appreciate. He submitted it to the Saturday Evening Post; however, it was rejected as "too
controversial for the times." Jim was active in the ecumenical movement. His poem was sent in to the Liguorian, a Catholic magazine. That was its first official publication to my knowledge. Since then, it has appeared in church bulletins, teaching seminars and on talk radio, listed as "Author Unknown." If that was done for legal protection, I understand.

My family is always happy to see it appear, but we do think the true author should be given credit.

Source: Inspiration Line