“CTLV”

I am a household name

Known the country wide,

Whenever I am mentioned

It is woe betide.

Very few people like me

Soon you’ll see why

I’m seen as a necessary evil

That most will defy.

I have been around

For thousands of years,

You could wish all you want

I won’t soon disappear.

As long as there is life

This terrestrial side of heaven

I will be criticized and despised

I will never be forgiven.

I come in different forms

And I have many names

But whichever one you call

People will still complain.

Sometimes I can be direct

But mostly I am indirect,

It doesn’t matter the approach I take

People will still fret.

I’m unmoved by their complaints

For I have a job to do,

I am not looking for friends

And I don’t care about their view.

Of course I am filthy rich

And filthy is the operative term

Not because of my enormous wealth

But how I make people squirm.

Whenever they hear my name

They become quite unsettled

And if they were coming forward fast

They suddenly back pedal.

  

I am worse than my bark

I am more known for my bite,

In many a big man’s heart

I will often caused him fright. 

I have a faithful group of friends

Oh, just a comparative few

They make decisions concerning me

But on their behalf too.

I would have mentioned before

I am known by many names

But never mind which one is used

It brings a constant drain.

I know I have you guessing

And you thought that I was Sin

But the chance of escaping me

In this life is pretty slim.

I am a household name

They talk about me all day

And I would be executed tomorrow

If some people had their way.

The most that they could do

Is to attempt to reduce my effect

But this day in which we live

That they certainly reject.

And so I get richer and richer

As I take from everyone,

The more you make the more I take

Sort me out before the money is gone.

Are you getting brighter now?

No, it’s not the Government,

Sorry if I misled you

That was not my intent.

One of my names begins with “C”

My surname commences with “T”

Another starts with the letter “L”

And even one with the initial “V”

That may have put you right on track

Or perhaps it set you back

But the list makes known the fact

Of names I have no lack.

Time to wind this poem down

I never intended it to be long,

Perhaps on this the twentieth verse

You would say that I was wrong.

You will find me in the Bible

Under a name beginning with “T”

There a group was very grateful 

For the benefits they derived from me.

The fact of the matter really is

I am greatly needed; that’s the truth,

Look around you at all I give

And therein you’ll find the proof.

By now you should have guessed

The name by which I am known,

Short or long you’ll know it’s me

Wherever you may roam.

I’m like a plague that some avoid

But all find me hard to shun,

They call me Tax for my shorter name

But I am really TAXATION.

Stewart Russell © November 2017