The Cold Within
By James Patrick Kinney or J. W. Cashes, Sr.
(This poem illustrates the twin themes of “A Scout is Friendly” and “A Scout is Helpful.”)
Six humans trapped by happenstance
In bleak and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood
Or so the story’s told.
Their dying fire in need of logs
The first man held his back
For of the faces round the fire
He noticed one was black.
The next man looking cross the way
Saw one not of his church
And couldn’t 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 the wealth he had in store
And how to keep what he had earned
From the lazy shiftless poor.
The black man’s face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from sight.
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.
The last man of this forlorn group
Did naught except for gain.
Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played the game.
Their logs held tight in death’s still hands
Was proof of human sin.
They didn’t die from the cold without
They died from the cold within.
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NOTE: It is not clear who the author of this poem is. Most sources credit it to James Patrick Kinney, but some sources credit authorship to J. W. Cashes Sr. In October 1999 the “Dear Abby” newspaper column published a letter claiming to be from Kinney’s widow:
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