An infectious disease
spread through the air
or blood.

Nor a dominant gene
passed down
from father to son.

Want is not traced
deep in the palm
of your hand.

No one chooses
to go out daily
alive with hunger.

It is a silent burglar
with a sharp knife
cutting away at will.

Leaving behind only
the form, the shape, the shadows
of what we are.

Cheryl Lynn Moyer Peele

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/poverty-is-not/