Kleptocracy

I see the rulers of the world,
See their come and go, their assignations,
How they bury their secrets in the sand.

The sun never sets on their wealth.

I see them in back rooms after dark
In unlit corridors, nocturnal, demonic,
Predators who steal our best endeavours
Like thieves in the night.

…them that work the hardest
are wi’ the least provided…

Was it money alone?
Or was it everything of value?
Was any of it ever ours? What we had,
Did it not always belong to them?

…you pays your money and takes your chance…

In exchange for coin, goods or service;
In exchange for trust, promises;
In exchange for honesty, truth divided,
At least in half or, in fractions, given back,
Piecemeal. An exchange …of nothing;

I see their heads nodding, lips moving:
This is just business, just another day,
Another week, in the money markets
Or in politics, where time, in fits and starts,
Passes naturally, like power,
From the many to the few.

I see water spinning down the drain; what is lost
Is gone for good, gone for bad, never mentioned;
But in unseen places where the water pools,
Others have known all along how deep.

See how the game was rigged;
We could only place our bets, lay down,
Our hard-earned, paying-your-way, money
But, behind our backs, the deal was already done,
Our tithes for all the rainy days to come, given up
With hardly a per cent, hardly one per cent of one per cent
Ever given over by those with percentages to spare.

What was it we had to offer? The work of our hands,
Our thoughts? But whose was the currency? And us?
Were we not fools and dupes, passive conduits, funnels
Who fill the pockets of those who already had enough?

So much given away; so little return.

© BH, 2017

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This is the last of my ‘ocracy’ poems. At least for now. After Kakistocracy and Compulsion and Secrets (corruption, misuse or power and sleaze), I thought a rule of power where the powerful make themselves rich by stealing from everyone else was particularly relevant/. Especially following the Paradise Papers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Papers).

The italicised quasi-quotes, by the way, are well-known phrases or sayings. Except for  -

Those that work the hardest / Are with the least provided.

Taken from They Fairly Mak Ye Work the Dundee folk song by Mary Brooksbank, translated from - 

Them that work the hardest / Are wi’ the least provided.

By the way, the suite of poems is Kakistocracy, Compulsion and Secrets, Kleptocracy.