Wall Street Poet Michael Silverstein's Satirical Verse

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Wall Street Poet
Michael Silverstein's
Satirical Verse

A Dyspeptic's Guide To Contemporary American Politics (In Verse)

"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

Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935) did a great service to all of us when he wrote the poem "Richard Cory." It describes a guy who had everything, who everyone admired and longed to be, but who, for some incomprehensible reason, one day blows his head off. How satisfying, this poetic expression of the poor little rich kid myth. The kid who looks so happy but is really miserable, while little folks like ourselves—contrary to appearances and the dictates of common sense—are really much better off. The following adaptation (a.k.a. knock-off) of Richard Cory is about another guy who appears to have everything--including the ears of world financial leaders, but who sees it slip away in the wake of some financial reverses. If you like, you can pretend that puts this man’s past successes in the same league as your own past failures. Me, I’m not so sure.

Georgie Soros

Whenever Georgie Soros came around,
World leaders hearkened well to what he said:
He was the financier who’d trimmed the English pound,
Well spoken, and omnivorously read.

And he was always full of sage advice,
And he was always humane in his aims:
He urged developed nations to be nice,
To share their wealth when playing global games.

Well fixed he was, oh, no one doubted that,
But making still more dough was not his pitch:
Instead, he told us all to not stand pat
That there was more to life than getting rich.

So unevolved, we scrambled ‘round the hive,
And hung our heads when he spoke at Davos:
Until the day his hedge fund took a dive
Then folks seemed less impressed with Georgie Soros.

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