Cash Nexus

Dreams

My dreams are of tenements,
welfare offices,
rats crawling in the subway,
murderers standing in the shadows.

I dream of rivers of blood,
of starving children,
crying,
afraid of the dark.

I never dream about democracy.
I dream about foreclosures,
homes lost forever
to real estate speculators,
who stay up all night,
planning the perfectly functioning market.

Law and Order

It is against the law
to beg
in the New York City
subway system.

Don’t give money
To lawbreakers;
give it to charities
that care for the needy.

Free Trade

English merchants sold Opium in China
which they grew in India.

Some people say this was immoral trade.
Others say it was good business
in a world of commerce.

Progress and Civilization

The Spanish conquerors burned Native Americans
over green wood
so the fire would burn more slowly.

All that pain and suffering,
for the glory of the Spanish Crown!
While the King and Queen slept well,
not a bad dream between them.

Ode to the Free Market

Someone lights up the neon billboards
that connect one shopping mall with the next.

I am free to buy whatever I need
with electronic money
in the universal marketplace
where children produce
on the global assembly line.