Explicating Poems

According to "Marxist Criticism" society is made up of beliefs, values and ways of thinking influenced by economic and class structures. We see the opposite of this idea, that everyone is the same on the inside, clearly stated in the poem "Poverty's Reply to Royalty" by Lalitha Iyer. The lines "My Lord - I am ugly, yet my heart is sweet - I am dirty, yet my thoughts are neat" talk about how the homeless person thinks and feels just like anyone else would, even though their looks might make you think differently. The poet is stating that you shouldn't assume someone is completely different from you by their looks and that even when someone is at their lowest point they can still keep their their personality.  When Iyer writes "My bed is in shreds but I don't suffer asleep" she is talking about how whenever anyone goes to sleep it is always the same. Their is no divide between the rich and the poor when everyone is sleeping. In the last lines of the poem Iyer wrote "I invite you to my streets" Here Iyer is saying that the homeless person has a place to call home, the streets, and is being polite by inviting the higher classes into them just as if someone was inviting you into their house. 

If you would like to read the poem you can find it here http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/poverty-s-reply-to-royalty/