"Nowadays, you can't turn on the TV without some talking head telling you about the economy. Yet, in a world overrun by 'analysts,' only one man has the guts, the brains, and, quite frankly, the poetry to put it all in perspective.That man is Michael Silverstein... Silverstein is a true intellectual." — Gersh Kuntzman, The New York Post

"Few people have found much to laugh about in the stock market this year. Michael Silverstein is the exception. The Bard of the Bourse can find humor in losing money, globalization and stock options." — USA Today

More Of What The Critics Are Saying
About Silverstein's Verse

 

Charles Kingsley’s poem, "Young and Old," touches on a theme that’s been popular with many poets over the years—especially those who contrived to live beyond their 30th birthday. Namely, that after the heady days of youth are over, it’s great to have a loving friend around with whom to share your declining years. Robert Burns (among others) did a bang up job with this same theme.

Perhaps the reason Kingsley’s own effort is still remembered is because it contains a line about every dog having its day. Or as he phrased it:

Young blood must have its course, lad,
And every dog its day.

Every dog having its day. Taking something into the hard times from good times now past. I run these two ideas together, put a Wall Street edge on them, and come up with my own version "Young and Old," which I call "Boom and Bust."

Boom and Bust

When all the markets glisten
And all your hopes ascend,
And every tip’s a winner
And every stock’s a friend,
You think yourself a genius
You never see a hitch
And no one then can tell you
Not everyone gets rich.

When all the markets sputter
And all your stocks are down
And all the fun has vanished
And all your assets blown
Let’s hope that ‘mid the ashes
Of dreams too good to last
You still remember fondly
That bubble was a blast.

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