People only seem to love us 

when the coal is still being mined 

and we’ve gave all our part of the earth could give 

to greedy hands always wanting more. 

They seem to only want us when election time swings around and they promise 

to fight for us and our children 

but soon after they talk about cutting our pensions in half 

and taking our insurance because we are the laziest bunch of people 

they have ever seen.

They love us for a charity case 

and a scapegoat when they cannot face their own problems

as we are those poor mountain folk 

who do not know any better.

We cannot pull ourselves up by the bootstraps 

they say 

because we do not wear shoes. 

They love us for the food and music at our festivals 

that they refer to as folksy 

and they are stupid enough to buy for twice the price they are worth. 

They stomp their feet to the beat of the 

band and then claim 

the music has no art behind it. 

They’ll listen to me read this poem 

and not notice the power behind the words but instead talk about how cute my little accent is 

trying to make a difference in such a big world 

that they will never truly let me be a part of.