"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

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About Silverstein's Verse

 

The Values Poem

What do you value, what do you treasure,
What do you use as your ethical measure?

If we have
Ten commandments
In more public places,
Do you think it will win you the Big Guy’s good graces?
Are you stripped
Of your sins
If you loudly disparage,
A gay’s entry into the temple of marriage?
And if ‘bout
Her body
A woman can choose,
Does that mean that somehow the rest of us lose?
Will old venues
For young folks
To pray disappear,
if learning and Bible in schools we don’t pair?

What do you value, what do you treasure,
What do you use as your ethical measure?

Could it be, though, that good works, that are more inclusive
Should be your true focus, not issues intrusive?
That your outrage should center on unneeded war
And the uncared for sick, and the suffering poor;
And for stewardship’s sake should you work hard to foil
Those who for gain, Mother Nature despoil;
And rise up in anger about each eruption
Of private and corp’rate and public corruption.

What do you value, what do you treasure,
What do you use as your ethical measure?
What tops the list of your values agenda,
What vision shapes,
The homage you’ll render?

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Poem of the Week

Past Satirical Verse

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Michael Silverstein

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Financial Verse

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