Yellow Brick
Road
Not one of these
golden cobble-locks
touch my soles as I walk,
just the grey concrete
that turns black
when it starts to rain.
The religious orders were right:
kneel, bow, pray, then pay
for spires, stupas, and the likes.
Your votive donations fit
cosily in coffers labelled:
'Save your souls!
Ticket to wherever guaranteed.
Buy now, pay later!
Excellentest of results guaranteed'.
No glint lies in the street.
No street
leads to an Emerald
City.
That way lies on an express-way
with a toll of avarice and philanthropy.
Fear not, these investments are safe,
for years of grind and sweat
are rewarded with minimum wage.
Entrepreneurs lie silent in your grave,
your souls are saved.
Or, as Bernie Taupin wrote in "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," addressing the privileged elite about to lose one of their baubles,"It'll take you a couple of vodka and tonics / To set you on your feet again."
ReplyDelete"….mongrels who ain't got a penny scratching for tidbits like you on the ground…." I continue to be fascinated by how Mr. Taupin could write the words from a distance and Mr. John could put them into a melody and make them match without communicating otherwise. "….spires, stupas and the like…" Nice poem. Thanks Duane.
ReplyDeletekevinpat -- welcome to the blog! I suppose that Bernie's lyrics usually get lost in Elton's rather bombastic music and delivery. But once one realizes what the song is about it adds tremendously to the totality.
ReplyDelete