Financial Security 2008

Financial Security


I’m not quite broke
and have most of what I need
in debt to meet the gaps
and living week to week
nervous as a bunny
trying to make
enough money

The rituals of work
on a good day
seeds some hope
in humanity
sorting sacred
from profanity
high aspirations from vanity
truth from insanity

While the commercial world spins
deals, seals fates
digitized porn
in the absence of dates
computers interface
communicate, transmit
stimulate, data entry
spreadsheet, spread my legs

what’s my rate?
wanna date?
tell me then-
what’s your credit score?
you can have more
if your lookin’ good
they bleed you less
let me tell you
its expensive to be poor
in the trap
in the vortex
in the death grip of greed...

To meet my basic needs
I have to outsmart
the smart mouths
that tell me
till my ears bleed
what I need
to have a chance
to seem OK, to feel relief
to find romance

that I gotta have this
that I really want this
better fill my cart
better fill my empty heart
give my kids a head start
fill my empty head
fill my empty bed
reward myself with pleasure
work myself to death
starve my soul
ignore my nature
make my money

Hey! Maybe I can
make it smart
make money art
I work for beauty
I work for love
that’s what I treasure
that’s how I measure
that’s how I feel
it’s a spiritual deal
I’m keeping it real
as best I can.

And if it all goes down
and all the banks collapse
from the emptiness of greed
and inflation’s loss of substance
means money disappears
in ether mists of corporate losses
What did you expect?

And when the market is leveled
things will be more real
hunger, thirst and homelessness
will make it pretty clear
which they will use as terror casting
so bail them out in fear.

What if the giant money movers
had to reap what they sowed
they’ve gone to daddy
and cried like babies
about losing their bonuses
and their big profits
should we treat them
like they treat us
if we make a late payment
and raise their interest rates
to the max allowed by law
enjoy the finance charges
then tell them
Oh, by the way you can’t
declare bankruptcy anymore
when your all strapped like this
because wasn’t it you
that changed the laws
so drowning people
could only ever stay under???
Sorry - you don’t get to go home
and reinvent yourself
you gotta drag your ass around
and keep up those payments...
What? Now that we’ve garnished your salary
you can’t pay for food and daycare???

Gee that’s a problem
but you owe us this
money and you earned this
interest rate by being too poor
to pay your bills on time...
Gotcha!
Greedy mother fucker’s
just a gang of instigators
getting rid of regulators
legalized organized crime
should be in jail with no bail
for all they did to undermine
the public good
and the cohesion of the nation.

Anyway,
we’ll either take it on
like grown-ups
and take our medicine ourselves
we’ll get real about our means
and pay our bills at least to the
local businesses we have ties to
cause if we act like them
and there’s no face or name to that
debtor and that loaner
it will feel like it doesn’t matter
if we keep on getting over

So, we’ll make it right
or we won’t
and the world
will keep spinning round
regardless of this mess
and whether we have more or less.