reflection in my glasses

Reflection on My Glasses 

In fairy tales, we learn about the rich  and the poor
the wealthy suitor gets the princess's hand
The poor cobbler will always be mending shoes 
In the "glass slipper," the poor girl fits the shoe
and marries the prince, while her sister gets a job
in the Guardian Newspaper getting paid for 
griping about men 
In Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf is working class
trying to get power among the haves becomes
a cropper and drowns in the well
Our instructions start at school when we are
adults find inequality perfectly normal
I have not written, anything today is my birthday, and that is depressing
I remember all my birthdays from age two until
15, but as a teenager, I scoffed at birthdays unless
it was a day for left-wingers and a socialist party's
day, later when I became a deluded communist
I remembered Joseph Stalin's day
My dog knew when it was her birthday and got
a juicy steak, alas, this noble animal didn't know
she was getting elderly as well