A POEM - WHEN YOU AIN'T GOT SHIT

WHEN YOU AIN’T GOT SHIT
the economy had shit the bed
and quite a few people were
pissed off and upset about their losses
a friend from back east
called late one night
told me he’d lost more than half
his holdings in the stock market
another couple friends
had lost their jobs
joined the growing ranks
of the unemployed
one night when
playing a dollar a spin
on a Super Six wheel
in the New York New York
the old dealer man
whispered to me,
“last year my house was worth $865,000.
Now I’d be lucky to get $280,000 for it.”
I was only twenty eight
but I knew I could retire comfortably
for the rest of my life
on 280 fuckin’ grand.
but all these poor bastards
they had these tremendous losses
to pine over
to keep them up at night
eyes wide open in the dark
fear beating in their hearts
me, I lost nothing
I didn’t have any investments
to get wiped out,
no job to get laid off from,
no house whose value might plummet
I was in the clear, baby, because,
to paraphrase Dylan
when you ain’t got shit,
you ain’t go shit to lose.