Poems of the Week

Walking Tall

by Nora Jay

“Billionaire and likely presidential hopeful Howard Schultz doesn’t want people calling him a ‘billionaire’:
… At a book event on Monday, Schultz swapped out the word for the term ‘people of means.’ …
‘All I’m trying to do is one thing: walk in the shoes of the American people,’ he said.”
—Business Insider

Now Mr. H. Schultz is as rich as a czar:
With so many bucks he’s a qualified star;
But all his desire—it’s a strange thing to choose—
Is trying to walk in his countrymen’s shoes.

He’s loaded with money—that’s not in dispute;
The proper descriptor, we’re learning, is moot,
But “person of means” is the one he will use:
Just one of the people, who walks in their shoes.

Of course Mr. Schultz can provide in a lump
The billions required to campaign against Trump,
And thus make the Democrats likely to lose,
While he is out walking in popular shoes.

The people are patient: they watch and don’t rage
As tax-dodgers sit on the minimum wage;
But one thing let’s hope they’ll be slow to excuse
Is Mr. H. Schultz taking walks in their shoes.