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Shahriar Shahriari |
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Poems - Critique of Society - Group 8
On Economy
Business says profits come first
Every business for money must thirst
From too much wealth will never burst
But if with no income is curst
Is carried by bankruptcy's hearse.This is business ' First Law
To try with its tooth and claw
Forge, or pave, or build, or saw;
Yet with a single mental flaw
Will open wounds, deep and raw.When bringing in lots of cash
Grow, expand, compete and bash;
But if faced with fiscal crash
Down size, streamline, cut and slash
Anything else must be rash.When prospects move to high from low
Vanity businesses will grow
Catering to those who must show
Golden glitter, glitz and glow;
Profits eaten by outflow.And when businesses go bust
Parasitic businesses with lust
Move in, take over, adjust,
Reduce costs and build trust
Business Law calls this a must.In this process, this routine
Everything is legal and clean
Or else it is unforeseen.
In the normal business scene
Anything else is obscene.Profits will always reign Supreme
Whether done alone or in a team.
In a case or two, as extreme
Businesses walk the moral beam
But in hard times for profits scream.With this cynical point of view
Perhaps one day we'll review
Whether the interests of the few
In form of profits as we knew
Are more important than me and you.© Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
September 12 , 1997
A long time ago we lived as hunter-gatherers
Storage pots and hunting tools our only wares.
We would kill a large animal and feast
Binge, eat as much as we could of the beast;
Then go for days on small berries and nuts
Until the next animal our tribe to pieces cuts.Then the agricultural age was ushered in
Replacing the old way of life with one wherein
With a new mentality we would plough the soil
Sow seeds, tend and harvest, go through much toil;
Then gather fruits of our labor in store
Subsist frugally, repeat the cycle as before.Yet in nature we see the bird and the beast
Neither worry, nor fear, nor binge, nor feast;
Neither sow seeds, nor harvest them in the fall
They simply gather food when their needs call.
Bar a few exceptions, this applies to them all
No matter how short, how tall, large or small.We today live our lives in chaos and confusion
Our mentality, morality and reality a mixed fusion.Our economic mentality is that of a hunter-gatherer
On the look, waiting to pounce, no matter where
Our morality glorifies the agricultural age
What we sow we shall reap, that our cage.
Yet to add to the chaos of this confusion
Nature our reality, all else just illusion.Corporate raids, stock markets, hunter's voracity
Downsizing, scams and frauds, lion's ferocity;
We gather, hoard, and toil, farmer's mentality
Fearing future shortage, eat with frugality;
Live today, gone tomorrow, we know with clarity
Nature provides just enough and no more, that's reality© Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
June 14, 1997
We look upon vultures as if
They won't touch that which is not stiff
Scavengers, lowest of the low
Only if dead, will strike their blow
Yet in the food chain, the highest link
Vultures that eat that which will stink
Clean up the earth from corpses dead
Care not if the meat is white or red
Vultures are like fungi and mold
Will devour what others can't hold.
Vultures are good when their eyes glean
Our Earth, to make it healthy and clean.In business, corporate Raiders
Auctioneers, stock traders
Are vultures preying on businesses stale
Before they crash, die or derail
Parasitic traders will gladly clean
Dead corporations that are not lean.
Vultures are not deadly or mean
Only for the dead, constantly screen.
In this process they find their food
Though their eating habits we will find rude.
The more corpses, the more they thrive
Though for killing, they will not strive;
To eliminate the business vulture
Infuse life in corporate culture.© Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
September 10, 1997
Every morn and every eve
Some believe, some deceive, others just try to achieve;
Every eve and every morn
Some are torn, some scorn, others wait until reborn.
With so much to give or lose
Some refuse, some abuse, others turn it into news
Such cynical point of view
Some renew, some review, others preach pulpit to pew.With this mental tint and hue,
Me and you, pay our due, in lieu of the vocal few.
Instead of hiding in a flash
Neither trash, and nor crash, in the river of life splash.
In fiscal terms it is rash
To stash, away cash, phoenix rises from the ash.© Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
October 10, 1998
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