East of Eden

For John Steinbeck

The teacher is a fool
Who buys with knowledge bread,
And lives on broth and beans,
Until the day he's dead.

The soldier is a czar
Who feasts with knife and gun,
And travels all the world
To chase the setting sun.

The lawyer is a judge
Who barters in dissent,
And sows his fields with gold
From strife and argument.

The salesman is a seer
Who prophesies the past,
And buys a host of slaves
To finance his repast.

The prostitute's a hole,
Which never can be filled,
Who feeds on hunger's pangs,
And starves on fallow till.

The beggar is a king
Who takes his meals alone,
And sits in still repose
Upon a throne of stone.

The farmer is a man,
Who plants the earth with seed,
And waits upon the Lord
To conquer hunger's need.

The brother is a boy
Whose brother he will shove
To kill a brother's need
And feed on father's love.

The writer is a pen
Whom through the world flows ink,
And sets in mankind's mind
The thoughts that God doth think.