[1248] The Cold Within
Guest poem sent in by Sidharth Jaggi <jaggi@>
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 nought 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.
-- James Patrick Kinney
|
Poetry of the distant past used often to be a medium to
convey high-minded morals in a trite, sugar-coated package
form. The form still survives, but is now usually thought of
disparagingly (with good reason - consider those avoidable
cloyingly sweet Hallmark cards, where one tends to gloss
over the words as easily as water does off the cards) if at
all. But every once in a while one comes across pieces like
the one above where the words fit as neatly as if (dare I
say it? :) God meant them to, and the thinly veiled message
can be swallowed without too much effort.
This above piece is, iMho, a gem. I think it deserves a
place in this forum, especially since minstrels is fast
becoming a premier poetry archive :)
The place I read this poem (framed on a wall) attributed it
to a high school student, sometime in the mid-1970s. A
cursory search on the net hasn't helped much either - was
this teenage prodigy really a one-hit person? I wonder what
happened to him...
--
Sidharth Jaggi
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From: "Frank O'Shea" <foshea@>
Not at all sugar coated. The message is a valid one and is all the better
for being put into rhyme. Most readers of this site have an interest in
poetry and critical faculties to decide whether a poem is good or not. But,
and this is in no way meant to be patronising, the great majority of
non-poetry lovers will read this and like it because they can understand
what it is saying and appreciate the way it says it. They may not ever
read Pound or Williams (and I don't blame them) but they will read this.
Thanks for putting it up on the site and thanks Sidharth.
Frank
From: "Highland, David" <David.Highland@>
Regarding the identity/fate of the poet, the following letter appeared in a
Dear Abby column on October 25, 1999, indicating that he was in his 40s when
he wrote the poem. The letter doesn't indicate if he wrote/published
anything else of note.
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. Jim died at 51 of a heart attack on May
23, 1973, after retiring to Sarasota, Fla. My second marriage was to Homer
Kenny, a Sarasota widower, so I became ... Mrs. James Kinney-Kenny
david
From: "Priscilla Jebaraj" <prisci25@>
purely out of curiosity, i tried to trace james patrick kinney. even if
his poem is no piece of genius, it seems to be widely quoted on the net,
but there's very little about the poet.
one website said he had studied at MIT.
he was apparently a member of the class of 1982. he seems to go by his
second name, patrick.
until last year, he was the treasurer of the 1982 class reunion
committee. he was recently a donor to the lewis media library at mit.
if anyone's from mit, you can access the mit alumni info and find out
more. somehow, after searching the net for him, i'm curious to see what
j patrick kinney is doing with his life now.
regards
priscilla
From: "Ian Baillieu" <iblawyer@>
Evidently there has been more than one James Patrick Kinney!
As moralising verse goes, I agree this is better than
average, and the scenario is memorable even if far-fetched.
Yet it does have some blemishes that could easily have been
fixed. Are those due to the amateur authorship, or errors
in the work's reproduction here? In the 1st line of the
3rd verse, 'cross' should surely be 'across', otherwise the
rhythm stumbles. The rhythm misses a beat in the 3rd line
of the 6th verse. Each comma in the 4th and 7th verses
should be a full stop. Finally, what is the point of making
the first human described a woman, when all the others are
men? As a detail it distracts, because it seems arbitrary.
Unnecessary to the allegory, and too asymmetrical to
introduce gender equality.
From: "Ian Baillieu" <ianbaill@>
Evidently there has been more than one James Patrick Kinney!
As moralising verse goes, I agree this is better than
average, and the scenario is memorable even if far-fetched.
Yet it does have some blemishes that could easily have been
fixed. Are those due to the amateur authorship, or errors
in the work's reproduction here? In the 1st line of the
3rd verse, 'cross' should surely be 'across', otherwise the
rhythm stumbles. The rhythm misses a beat in the 3rd line
of the 6th verse. Each comma in the 4th and 7th verses
should be a full stop. Finally, what is the point of making
the first human described a woman, when all the others are
men? As a detail it distracts, because it seems arbitrary.
Unnecessary to the allegory, and too asymmetrical to
introduce gender equality.
From: "Reverend Martha Simmons" <MarthaSimmons_10@>
I need to know how to contact Mr. James Patrick Kenney. I want to obtain
his permission to use his poem "The Cold Within", in a sermon.
Thank you.
Martha Simmons
617 352-3447
From: "Mary Langley" <mapoet@>
The allegory "The Cold Within" is as meaningful today as the day it was
written.. If the world could understand the meaning of the allegory and
take heed, we could have the peaceful kingdom that God meant for us in
the beginning. How apropos the allegory in light of our present
conflict. Thank Mrs. James Kinney-Kenny for her information. I am
using the poem in my devotional this week. I will give both her and
Jammes Kinney credit that they deserve. What a legacy to leave the
world and his family.
From: Equinewoman90@
This poem is one of the best I have read.
From: "Kelee" <kmendoza16@>
A great poem/tool for teaching interlocutors (esp. juvenile
delinquents)the benefits of being open minded towards people different
from their own kind. I add a spin to it to create dialogue but I would
love to know the true story that this poem is based on other than the
common one at hand, if there is one.
Thank you Patrick. Javier