Ravening Poem by Doug Blair

You want it all.

The lakes and tar sands

Fresh water and fish

Arctic diamonds

Pipelines that confine

The caribou

And make the hunt ridiculous.

Forests for the churning

Of gossip press

And row houses

Like card houses

In six figure excess.

You set the price

You peg the share return

You fudge prospectus

Upon contingent prospectus.

You eyeball Brazil’s rubber

Argentina’s beef

And the yen’s stability.

Look for bottom line

In a bombshell.

You feed the college factories

With student debt

And prevarication.

You ruin IT marvels

With baffling analysis

For the competitor.

You forestall needful medicines.

Your franchises gorge your towns

And starve your staffs.

You stuff the sanctuaries

With hype and lifestyle

And dandle politicians

Like Punch and Judy.

Moving jobs like pawns off-shore.

Buying justice by the pound.

You are the ravening

And the implacable.

You kill this place

In increments.

Chanting with pounded fist

“Business is business”.