Ravening

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 lusty, 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 of innovation With the barbs of bribed analysts. You forestall needful medicines. Your food franchises gorge your towns And starve your staffs. You stuff the sanctuaries With hype and lifestyle And trendy powerless slogans. And dandle politicians Like Punch and Judy. But no one is laughing. 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”. And the odd one of us Builds a cabin in the bush And marvels at the night music And lights.