Greed

Robber Barons

Judgment cometh and that right quick

as Wall Street is handed it's hat

The masses have had all they want

of the bankers who now grow fat

 

This week financial lids blew off

they protest the capital falter

Heart and soul of America

calling for blood upon the altar

 

Their pensions are all washed away

the river has stolen their future

Legacies left to great grandchildren

that bleed with every suture

 

The bankers should be commended

for the way they have stolen our dough

For once they lived up to their creed

showing us all their brand new low

 

What most are now upset about

that we were promised we wouldn't pay

Till our grandchildren all grew up

after we had all passed away

 

Today the masses took Wall Street

to find Robin Hoods evil twin

I thought they might tar and feather him

as they had done to his past kin

 

It wasn't long till the preachers

were stirring the seeds of discontent

Turning the heat up on the stew

hoping ingredients would ferment

 

We need not blame our religion

for the blow we now take on the chin

We knew they were snakes when we met

then opened the door to let them in

Author's Note

We all knew this could not go on forever. But human nature being what it is. We turned a blind eye to the politicians who spent our futures in earnest. We are not gods. We cannot take in 200 billion a month in taxes, then spend 340 billion a month on our hearts desire. Our beautiful country is mortgaged to the hilt. The ride is over and we now face the Reaper. The architects of our disaster will now have to face the throngs of the dispossessed. They may find they bit off too much this time. It seems the people want their country back!

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

Your words are true in the Author's note. USA need to be ran like a business. If you read the budget. A lot of income going to places most people would not understand. I counted 346 billion in aid. for military to 40 countries. Time to watch the nickle and dimes. Wall Street did not do us in. Big pocket politicians did. Mrs. Obama took her family to Africa for seven day vacation. Spend close to 2 million for the trip on Air force one last month. We are fool's for allowing this. Thank you for the strong words and old photo.
Coyote

[...]

another work of art, Tate. United we stand, divided...we fall

[Tate Morgan]

thank you lynn

[Judy]

Being a part of the 99% and going to Zuccotti Park with friends allowed me to see something that I only had heard of being done in years past. Capitalism is a curse and yet I think it is all many Americans know - this is a great piece

[Tate Morgan]

thank you Judy I try

[Paul Seaman]

I really like the font, and the poem for that matter !

[K. D. Kromminga]

The lure of quick money, is that somebody always "pays the piper" in the end. This is not so much the banker's faults as much as it is government regulations that fail to control the financial industry when its most needed. Its human nature to take the easiest path. Stock market rides a wild ride every day because of speculative bidding, speculation as rampant as caused the Great Depression. Our commodities are fixed by that speculation, gas and oil prices as much as 200% overvalued in some places because we allow brokers to trade our futures. The system is broken and any attempt to fix it is hamstrung by the problem that we need a new system not a patchup of the old one. Until then greed will rule unchecked.

[Pax]

facinating write... i say this type of human nature is one of the worst sins of man... greedy people and thier addicting needs... well expressed mr. Tate.

[realmwriter]

Very well spoken as allways Tate. And Yes, We want our country back!

[cartera]

And can I have mine back while you're at it, please? A poem that had to be written for our time. Sadly, it looks as though, after we all have a few years struggling, that the system will be putting up the notice: Normal Service Resumed. I like the T-shirt that has the face of Karl Marx and the legend: 'I told you so.'
ATB
Alex.

[Duke Teager]

Tate,
Will this consumer society drive us over the ledge? Or will nature intervene in an effort to restore blance, and recover from the damages we are causing? Will the rich get richer as the poor gets to dig their own graves? We are lost in the glitter and bling of consumerism, while poison seeps further through our mother's (earth) viens. But sooner or later this device will break.
And "when the device finally breaks,

Meaningless recurring loops,
The fire--starters,
The networking grip,
This mindless display,

Shall all come to pass."

[Mary C]

I quite enjoyed this. I did not enjoy "cometh", however. Including 16th century words do not work unless one writes the entire poem in that fashion. (in my opinion)

[David Lewis Paget]

Unfortunately Tate, the architects of the financial disaster seem to have got away with it. The Investment Banks that survived are doing better than ever, after being bailed out with YOUR money, and the obscene bonuses that sent many to the wall have not been paid back... In fact, no-one has even ASKED them to pay them back, even though the head of Bear Stearns, I believe, walked away with over $400 million. The best thing we can do with Wall Street is raze it to the ground!
(I would advise everyone who cares, to see the doco 'INSIDE JOB' - narrated by Matt Damon. It's an eye opener!)