Poem of the Day 09.18.08 (influenced by the boys on Wall Street)

okay, i don't usually write shit like this, but it seemed timely.

even walls fall down

i don’t understand it
i can’t get it inside my head
spin it around
make some sense.
i just wasn’t born into the
world like that
to make money on a gamble.
i watch it grow
and let it go
or else i’ve learned to swim
while i sink.
but like everyone else
i’m sitting here waiting
reading,
getting the life preserver ready
getting in the financial times
along with the dwindling baseball scores
and the line on next week’s
giant’s game.
anticipating.
it’s a trick
it’s a bad shot, another bad break
another bail out
another low ebb
another golden jug of milk
another borrowed home
another colossal fuck up
the big city’s way of picking up sticks
and waiting for the lights to come
back on.
corporate body bags.
but we all know who’s really
going to pay the price.
and i guess that’s what makes watching
this even worse.
the nervousness.
scanning the subway for desperate eyes
and hard luck gloom.
remember the rich will always bounce back
because they have the dream
in their back pocket
and know how to manipulate the sun.
for even when the walls fall to the ground
and the flood waves rush in
they are always somewhere on the highest
ground
waiting to call in the tides.
but you and me brothers
we need to get the women and children
ready
find a boat
learn to fish
because it looks like we’re going
out to sea again
history and all else be damned.