Kate Daniels

It was all going to hell
in a handbasket
and taking us with it.
But leaning back
in the triple jet, high
end Jacuzzi, sipping
a top flight
California Chardonnay
it just didn't
seem possible...

Far overhead, stars
more ancient
than our current
economic system
were slowly burning
out, their fiery implosions
so distant and silent
we were sure we still
had plenty of time...

If we'd actually looked up
into the heavens the way
people used to
and acknowledged
something grander
than our money
and ourselves,  and accepted
the possibility that a Mystery
might move us, things
could have
turned out differently
for everyone: we'd be poorer
but richer, as in the Zen
koans we pay to ponder
on the Hot Yoga mat...

Then, perhaps the vast
fortunes realigning
themselves in the catastrophic
avalanche of one bad day
in the life of the Dow might
have looked very different —
the way the night sky
softens and loses
some of its solace
when you remove your glasses
and let yourself feel
how real, how small
you actually are, and how
utterly devoid
of adequate capital.