The Fall of a CEO

I’ve chosen the following lines as a glose.

Litany for Dictatorships (1936)

by Stephen Vincent Benét

We thought we were done with these things but we were wrong.
We thought, because we had power, we had wisdom.
We thought the long train would run to the end of Time.
We thought the light would increase.

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We thought we were done with these things, but we were wrong.
We thought because we had power, we had wisdom.
We thought the long train would run to the end of Time.
We thought the light would increase.

A news item winks at me, hidden under a paywall
The dictator is back to his old ways of confrontation
It may be at his peril, but shareholders do care
He will pull down those who put their money on him
also those who survive on merciful morsels
those in authority are in no mood to spare
he should take heed, only if he cares
We thought we were done with these things, but we were wrong.
We thought because we had power, we had wisdom.

Do we blame him for having tasted success?
Or all those who worked to lift him up
In the hope that the morsels of mercy
will lead them to a castle in the woods
made of bread, cake and sugar to satiate
their thirst for wealth, an unending appetite
but they were being fattened for a meal
their use declining for a predator in the fall
We thought the long train would run to the end of Time.
We thought the light would increase.

those at the top who gave him a hand
fed him to protect secrets in the long haul
they unleashed a monster on vulnerability
dug institutional roots to build fake credibility
they turned a blind eye to atrocities
they faked being deaf to pleas for justice
Marie Antoinette’s statement carries no proof
The culprits build bread walls and a cake roof
We thought we were done with these things, but we were wrong.
We thought because we had power, we had wisdom.

Hansel and Gretel returned home with a treasure
His minions count crumbs, cook conspiracy together
They might help him to protect their interest
They might ditch him to join a new cartel
Humpty Dumpty falls without a thud on the ground
The sun sets in the West; the Earth goes around
Someone has taken his place with a smile and a gun
Those who fought for justice are again on the run
We thought the long train would run to the end of Time.
We thought the light would increase.

We thought we were done with these things, but we were wrong.
We thought because we had power, we had wisdom.
We thought the long train would run to the end of Time.
We thought the light would increase.

---

Poetics – Stormy Weather