A man sits on his couch at home after work. A man who is in the buckets, or poverty as some would say, and works day to day, paycheck to paycheck. His wife sits in the other room suffering from her disease; a disease that tears at the seams of their relationship.

He sits on his couch in his smoke filled living room, listening to the evening news. His eyes squint from the smoke and the pain of years before.

“The DOW closes at a record high today,” the television says.

He sits on his couch in his meager home, motionless, posed with a blank stare. His mind is at idle. This news of the rich men getting richer while he continues to struggle doesn’t interest him. The rich man’s agenda is at full press while his is still at rest.

“We must confront these terrorists,” the television goes onto say.

The cigarette crackles and slowly fades away. His mind moves onto much brighter days.

Days of joy and laughter.

Days of passion, integrity and character.

But today those times are in full retreat.

“Father,” his child says.

“Yes son,” he replies.

“What are we to do?”

The man is puzzled by this.

“What are we to do about what son…?”

And the man suddenly feels weak. He begins to tremor. His son stands in a fearful stare as his father’s faded cigarette falls to the ground.

“Son,” the man calls out.

“Yes father?” the boy stammers.

“What are we to do?” the man asks out of fear.

The boy this time looks puzzled and struggles to find his words.

“But father, what do you mean?”

And the man collapses in front of his young boy. The now young man leans down to his father’s cheek, gently kisses it and sheds a tear.

He then whispers into his father’s ear.

“I am to do what you have done for so many years…keep calm; carry on, and continue the struggle in hopes of a better day. Continue the struggle in hopes of a better way…in this sea of giants.”

And the television continued to blare as the man sat posed with a blank stare.

The DOW continued to rise and the businessman’s agenda continued at full press when the young man laid his father to rest.

Tags: Cigarette, Poor, Poverty, Television, The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Working Class

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 2:19 pm and is filed under Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.