Wall Street Poetry

Fine Artist & Rip-Off Artist

1. Shadowy hills under starry nights
paint palettes dark blue and gray
sketch the donkeys and the daffodils
catch the blistering sun and the autumn chills
in amazingly pale colors on the snowy land
look out on a horrific summer's day
with eyes that know the darkness in my soul
swirling clouds in violet orange, purple haze
sadly reflect in Vincent's eyes, of china blue.

2. Auvers-sur-Oise (France), July 29, 1890
my beloved father Vincent van Gogh
shot himself in the chest
he died two days later, his last words:
"la tristesse durera toujours"
the sadness will last forever.

3. Delirious depressions, shyly counterbalanced
by the holy fire for divine Art for Art's sake
l'Art pour l'Art, uncontrollable forest fires
volcanic eruptions raging in the burning belly
even blue, moody & down, Larger than Life
permanently caught in frenzy downward spirals
endless cruel rollercoaster with no exit, no check-out
frantically brushing & painting the sanity away.

4. Inspired by his suicidal, but brilliant dad
Vincent Jr. aimed to outperform the modern Dutch master
real fine man and artist, the immortal Vincent van Gogh.

5. Con-artist Vincent Jr. naturally progressed
to become world's most advanced sovereign
by perfecting the terrific fine art
of the Charles Ponzi scheme, fraudulent investing scam
promising non-existing high rates of return
with (un-realistic) little risk to (over-confident) greedy investors
creating favorable amazing impressions
hyper-creatively plotting and scheming
out-of-the-box cuisine, cooking all the Financial Accounting
and Operational Audit books of the Public Library
to get the window dressing, the deceptive front
the cheating and lying, the half-truths & misrepresentations
absolutely, exactly right - Junior's compulsive-obsessive
modus operandi to de-risk, reduce the risk of getting busted
being caught by the mean coppers, face police brutality
perfectly soothed beneath the artist's rip-off hand
in all the rainbow colors of high-security federal prisons.

6. In his exuberant transformation from fine artist to con-artist
Vincent Jr, in a nutshell, made serious money indeed - no doubt
but No Free Lunch, he also developed an impressive track record
of trouble with the law - civil laws, environmental laws
securities laws, bankruptcy laws, animal welfare laws
you name it, by Hell or high water
Junior was into serious trouble
with almost all the laws in the country.

7. Our Father in Heaven
now I understand, father Vincent
what you tried to say to me
and how you suffered for my insanity
and how you tried to set me free,
with handsome van Gogh drawings & paintings
bail me out from jail, your payments in kind
I was young, would not listen - I did not know how
perhaps imprisoned, between other ragged
men in ragged cloths, without the money,
the alcohol, the girls, without even God Almighty
perhaps I'll listen now.





Credit given where credit is due, this little poem is inspired by, and supplement the popular song lyrics, Starry, Starry Night, written by Don Mclean.