The National Debt

There are persons in New York and Washington, D.C.

Who understand the national debt,

Who grasp the accountants’ fictions, twist them upon charts,

Graphing the pulsing markets around the world.

Securities, margins, short sales, cycles—

There are persons who understand these, and

They are the keys to understanding the national debt.

I suppose that the tribal associations need a national debt,

Need to borrow in order to trade,

Need to borrow—so Hamilton preached--even if there is no need.

For being in debt to the neighboring tribes somehow—

Hamilton understood this—

Will make the members of the tribe support the chieftains, and

Will somehow—Hamilton understood this—

Make the creditor tribe accord the debtor tribe

A kind of fiscal and monetary respect

That only persons in New York and Washington, D.C.

Understand.

--October 10, 2013