Cross Roads

LIGHTS OF THE CITY

     He was young,
     And his mind
     Was filled with the science of economics
     That he had studied in college.
     And as we talked about the food riots,
     And high prices,
     And jobless men,
     He said:
     "It's all stupid and wrong,
     "This newspaper talk!
     "Folk have no business to starve.
     "The price of labor always advances,
     "Proportionally,
     "With the price of food!"

     "Any man," he said,
     A moment later,
     "Can earn at least two dollars a day
     "By working on a railroad,
     "Or in the street cleaning department!
     "What if potatoes DO cost
     "Eight cents a pound?
     "Wages are high, too....
     "People have no reason to starve."

     I listened to him prayerfully
     (More or less),
     For I had never been to college,
     And I didn't know much about economics.

     But—
     As I walked to the window,
     And looked out over the veiled, mysterious lights
     Of the city,
     I couldn't help thinking
     Of a little baby
     That I had seen a few days ago;
     A baby of the slums—thin, and joyless,
     And old of face,
     But with eyes
     Like the eyes of the Christ Child.. ..
     A baby—crying for bread—

     And.... I wondered....