Joe Smozy writes a letter to the Editor

1

Joe Smozy woke up when he felt2

something chewing on his ear, in3

his shabby little 8 by 10 room in4

The Bronx, Ny.Ny. He opened his5

eyes and seen a big red eyed rat6

sitting on his chest.7

Joe had a minor touch of deliriium8

tremens and thought he heard the rat9

say, 'Joe, you ol muttafugga, I'm 10

going to eat you one of these days'11

Joe was very disurbed and so12

he decided to write a letter to the13

editor of the New York Times. He14

began it with one of his poems:15

Dear editor Gloria: Here is my16

poem entitled 'The Whoreus Mann17

Legacy', followed by my letter:18

Relentless possessive men19

Have created a world they coveted20

By controlling the production of money21

And minding who they let receive it22

They have never liked me23

Neither have they liked my poetry24

It does not agree with their politics25

Their philosophies and attitudes26

Their teachers in the public screws27

Their line of despair reasoning28

(Letter from N.Y. Housing authority29

definitely not freddy Mac or Fanny Mae)30

Vincent A. Popoff of the31

Southeast New York Housing Solutions32

has sent me another rent increase 33

notification saying my rent will be 34

raised another 35 dollars, just when I35

was hoping that on my birthday, the 2336

of August, I would be able to afford37

a senior citizens' half fare card for the38

city bus and have a little money left 39

over for a few days trip in Seattle to see40

The Boeing Flight Musee or something. 41

The first of August I will be42

paying 308 dollars a month rent, for which43

amounts to little more than solitary confine-44

ment. There is no social life. It's like living45

in a graveyard, only in a graveyard you 46

might see the caretaker once in a while47

changing a light bulb or something.48

I don't expect you people playing49

around with your old money that has50

garnered millions in interest over the51

years to understand how very difficult52

it is to get by on under a 1,000 dollars53

a month in this climate of inflation.54

It seems like the only answer they55

can come up with is to keep raising56

prices on the poor people. They are57

educated people, but I now believe58

a students and 4.0 students will never59

be part of the solution to any usefull60

answers, but will always be a part of61

the problem just like everybody else.62

Sincerely yours, Joe Smozy 63