Saturday, June 8, 2019

Michael Estabrook writes


Greed

Sad, but always interesting (and sometimes fun)
watching billionaires and giant corporations
tearing each other apart in the news.
Incessant squabbling, backbiting, lawsuits.
How much money do you need?
How many houses can you live in?
How many cars can you drive?
Amazing they are never satisfied,
never seem to get enough.
As for me
I’m a simple man
walk the dog, have a coffee with the wife
text my son living in California
and sleep at night with a clear conscious
and accepting the fact that
you can’t take it with you.
Image result for greed paintings
Inferno, Canto VII -- Giovanni Stradano (Jan Van der Straet)

1 comment:

  1. Like waves above Charybdis, each crashing apart
    Against the one it rushes to meet, here gather
    People who hurry forward till they must meet
    And dance their round. Here I saw more souls
    Than elsewhere, spreading far to the left and right:
    Each pushes a weight against his chest and howls
    At his opponent each time that they clash:
    “Why do you squander?” and “Why do you hoard?” Each wheels
    To roll his weight back round again: they rush
    Toward the circle’s opposite point, collide
    Painfully once more, and curse each other afresh;
    And after that refrain each one must head
    Through his half-circle once again, to his next joust.

    -- Dante, INFERNO, Canto VII, lines 22-36 (tr. Robert Pinsky)

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