"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

 

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) wrote wonderful satirical verse, the most famous of which, "The Rape of the Lock," happily rambles along for several hundred tongue-in-cheek lines. Deformed by illness as a child, he learned well the art of verbal self-defense. When accused of being overly obsequious toward the powerful people who became his patrons, he shot back:

"I am his Highnesses’ dog at Kew,
Pray tell me sir, whose dog are you?"

My own favorite Pope poem, though, isn’t satirical, biting, or even droll. It’s a paean to life’s simple pleasures called "Solitude." The updated version of this work that follows, titled "Home Alone," might resonate today with people who are reexamining some of their priorities in the wake of a much transformed, post-September 11th, marketplace.

Home Alone

Happy is she, who works at home
And her maternal chores fulfills,
Avoids the office twilight zone
And still pays bills.

Whose house has heat, whose car still runs,
Whose satisfied no fame to reap
Whose friendships bring her day time fun,
And nights good sleep.

Blest, with a nonmaterial bent
No stocks, no bonds, no savings pot,
She’s in good shape, makes the rent,
Smiles a lot.

I want that life, swept clean of fools,
With market madness, have no tie,
Slip through the cracks, break all the rules
Then up and die.

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