Sunday, July 27, 2014

Mobster.. Fraudster... Bankster.

Would i hedge against
the towers that are crumbling
in which i dwelled for years,
which sort of destroyed
the old mighty Kremlin
along with its spires,
the towers that once stood
mighty and tall
on the street named wall ,
even while it
threatens to wipe the meek
earnings of the young joes and all,
 knowing well that, to do that
 would mean to be
 being meaner
 than to maul,

Oh ! why would i care,
was i not the one who led
this entire thing to be here,
Well, i care not to guess and
i am sure you know me
by now to the bare,
that i am just not your ordinary banker,
i am what they call
the wall street banker.

Profits is what I would die to make
even while things seem huge
that are at stake,
like the pensions that people hold dear,
i treat them like they are already mine dear
Pocketing them as my  huge bonuses
even while i keep inducing
my books
quarter after quarter, year after year,
only with losses,
since the great debacle of 2008
which sure did matter,
and that’s why i decided not to create assets
as it dint pay much than to sneak my hands
into the ordinary blokes pockets,
and that's how i still get to keep
the porches and my private jets,
and that’s why
I am not your ordinary banker
i am what they call
the wall street banker.

I securitize your mortgages,
calling them as debt obligations
knowing well that,
they would all end up as
collateral’s causing more damages,
and that's why i hedge against them
for well i know they would
end up as i expect them,
and that's how i wipe all the taint
off me,
by not wanting to be a saint
which is not for me,
and dying  to make profits for sure
which exactly is just me.
and that’s why
I am not your ordinary banker
i am what they call
the wall street banker.

while wells fargo is busy lending
sub-prime auto loans,
i am hoping to see it soon load and get blown
for i see there a chance for me to hedge,
the chance that i created for myself
by bringing it to that edge,
and that's why i am not your ordinary banker
i am what they call
the wall street banker.

I kick the LIBOR rates around,
even as Barclay's and banks of all the royals
in Scotland and England
would swear by on all accounts,
that this game is being played fair,
though they might give in a bit
when forced to confront the court's
and other such affairs,
that at times it involves
the twisting of the arms
of the meager players around,
and the bending of the rules
to wrestle everyone to the ground,
and yet they would maintain,
what's being played is nothing but a fair game
a stance that the likes of meagre joes cannot but only acclaim,
as the bail-outs have become cliched,
in comes the bail-ins in a sleigh
to hot things a bit in the game,
where no one gets to hide
under their own shade,
because this should be the game
where i always should be winning,
and the ordinary Joe, which is you,
should always be losing,
and that's the only reason
i ever chose to be a banker,
and to make the likes of you 
call me
The wall street banker...
































Prasanna Kumar

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Nice to read and know of the "Mobster.Fraudster.Bankster."
Economics/Banking technical terms used in the poem like hedging etc., if defined to the reader, would be great in full appreciation of this poem.