Tuesday poem #358 : Henry Israeli : CAPITALIST DREAM SONG

It was never personal, just business

and we all know business must be free

for that’s the meaning of liberty

That’s the way the buildings reach the sky

That’s the way Wall Street scores its high

That’s the way to make a billion while a billion die

I like it when my stocks pay dividends

I like it when I crush my friends

I need to know how the world ends

To watch it in its final throws is a miracle

hurricanes rising like giant ghosts from the sea

half the nation drowning in water

the other half in debt

          My pastor climbs the pulpit

and praises my donation

He assures me of divine coronation

I climb to heaven

on the corpses of lesser men

Henry Israeli is a dual citizen of Canada and the United States and lives in Philadelphia with his wife and daughters. His latest book is Our Age of Anxiety, is the winner of the White Pine Press Poetry Prize. His previous books are god’s breath hovering across the waters, (Four Way Books: 2016), Praying to the Black Cat (Del Sol: 2010), and New Messiahs (Four Way Books: 2002). He is also the translator of three books by Albanian poet Luljeta Lleshanaku, and the founder and publisher of Saturnalia Books.

the Tuesday poem is curated by rob mclennan