Six
humans trapped by happenstance in dark and bitter cold
Each possessed a stick
of wood — or so the story's told.
Their
dying fire in need of logs, but the first one held hers back,
For, of the faces
around the fire, she noticed one was black.

The
next one looked cross the way saw one not of his church,
And could not bring
himself to give the fire his stick of birch.
The
third one sat in tattered clothes he gave his coat a hitch,
Why should his
log be put to use to warm the idle rich?

The
rich man just sat back and thought of wealth he had in store,
And keeping all
that he had earned from the lazy, shiftless poor.
The
black man's face bespoke revenge as the fire passed from his sight,
For he
saw in his stick of wood a chance to spite the white.

And
the last man of this forlorn group did naught except for gain,
Giving just
to those who gave was how he played the game.

Their
sticks held tight in death's stilled hands
Was proof enough of sin;
They
did not die from cold without —
They died from cold within.

~By
James Patrick Kinney www.Stop-The-Hate.org
Regarding
the identity of the poet, the following letter appeared in a Dear Abby column
on October 25, 1999:
DEAR ABBY: My husband, James Patrick Kinney, wrote the
poem "The Cold Within" in the 1960s. It is gratifying to know he
left
something behind that others appreciate. He submitted it to the Saturday Evening
Post; however, it was rejected as "too
controversial for the times."
Jim was active in the ecumenical movement. His poem was sent in to the Liguorian,
a Catholic
magazine. That was its first official publication to my knowledge.
Since then, it has appeared in church bulletins, teaching
seminars and on talk
radio, listed as "Author Unknown." If that was done for legal protection,
I understand.
My family is always happy to see it appear, but we do think the
true author should be given credit.