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Mike
Wall Street Poet
Michael Silverstein's
Satirical Verse
A Dyspeptic's Guide To Contemporary American Politics (In Verse)

Fifteen Feet Beneath Manhattan by Michael Silverstein

"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

 

Looking for a sure-fire investment when financial markets are tight? Consider a contribution to a local pol. Returns here can be awesome.

Pay to Play

If you're seeking to do bus’ness
In most cities, states or counties
When the contracts there are pending
You’ll need help to reap the bounties
From a contribution, cash or kind
That’s part of the transaction
And the more you tender to the cause
The greater is your traction.

Pay to play,
Pay to play,
You wanna play,
You gotta pay.

Be you muni pedd’ling lawyer
Or a builder needing permits
For concessions at an airport
You’ll come up with helfty remits
To get help from local pols
Your competitors to trump
Into coffers they devise
Scads of money you must pump.

Pay to play,
Pay to play,
You wanna play,
You gotta pay.

When the brib’ry word is brandished
And calls come for their contrition
Those who wallow in this play dough
Shout: "t’ain’t crooked, its tradition
Money’s just a form of free speech
Freedom grows with its increase
For a government to work well
It needs buckets of such grease."

Pay to play,
Pay to play,
The rule’s today,
You gotta pay.

********

 

© Michael Silverstein
 

Fifteen Feet Bneath Manhattan rat Wall Street Poet Dyspecptic's Guide to Contemporary Politics art
Poem of the Week

Past Satirical Verse

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Michael Silverstein


Guest Poems

Wall Street Poet Blog

Financial Essays
Reviews of Silverstein's
Financial Verse


About the Poet

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