Poetry

Composed before the current market maladies, perhaps more relevant now, still rough

I

For now you laugh
And pour champagne
And revel in
Capital gains

Searching your mind
For simple terms
To describe the dealings
Of your firm

To impress upon
The girls at hand
The wealth and power
You command

So while Goldman Sachs rings in her head
You can lead the prettiest
One to bed

II

But soon enough
You’ll settle down
Somewhere on
Long Island Sound

To a lovely wife
With mask-like face
And perfectly
Developed taste

And then commute
By early train
A forty minute long
Refrain

You’ll take this
Daily time apart
To reflect upon
Your splendid start

With bank accounts
Sufficient proof
Of dedicated
Indust’rous youth

III

In later years
A different joy
Your wife will bear
A handsome boy

And later still
Daughters too
And each of these
You must imbue

With respect for all the many things
Which talent and ambition bring

You’ll send them off to boarding schools
And they’ll return
Quite polished fools

You’ll find the money that you’ve spent
Has only bred
Entitlement

You’ll pay for Taft
To no avail
Your son will be waitlisted
At Yale

Your precious daughters
With Lexus toys
Will shed their gowns
For state school boys

IV

“But what of the fortune I’ve amassed?”
Oh, your wife will make
Quick work of that

She’ll buy herself
A brand new ass
And drink wine that’s
Fifty by the glass

Sadly this cross is yours to bear
And your group is losing market share

So when your colleagues smile at you
They’re smiling at the nearing coup

V

Could these days be
The rightful heir
To dreams of a
Young millionaire?

For circumstance has surely changed
Since you made the famous claim:

“Wealth and knowledge are not of greed. And I am of a different breed!”

But where is all your virtue now
As you watch the plummet of the Dow?

You’ll hold your shameful
Head in hand
Oh, your world and its demands!

For all of this
To speak the truth
Is a far cry from
Your brilliant youth