Rabbit Hutch

My uncle kept
A rabbit hutch
In his back yard,
When there were
Too many rabbits
The males fought
And disease lowered
The rabbit numbers.
Each time I see public
Housing I remember
That rabbit hutch,
Why does society
Think we can put
Human beings in
Rabbit hutch conditions
And not get the
Same results.
Ugly housing
Makes for
Unhappy living.
The rich in their
Gated communities,
Think they are separate
From the poor,
The violence and sickness
Of public housing will
Not touch them.
They are wrong.
A society thrives or
Declines as a whole,
Ugly, treeless, public housing
Demeans all society.
We treat our elderly
In much the same way,
In both cases we rely
On drugging the inmates
And pushing religion
As a palliative solution.
In the new America
Where mothers must work
For a family to survive,
We have lost both
Civic virtues and
Ethical behavior
Formerly taught
Day-to-day by
Our mothers.
We rely on TV
To nurture
Our children,
And most folks
Live from paycheck
To paycheck.
Democracy
Is forfeit so
The rich
Can have the
Illusion of security.
And the middle class,
The foundation on
Which all else rests,
Is washed away by
A tax system
Designed to help
The rich.