Follow the Money

“Follow the money,”
Deep Throat said
at two a.m. in
the damp shadows
of a parking garage
in Rosslyn, VA,
in the shameful and
pernicious year of ’72.
Words of wisdom
for the entire nation.

Follow the money
through the tangled
nexus of corporations
and nefarious cartels,
through offshore bank
accounts in the Caymans
and Dutch Antilles.

Follow the money
over the transom
and under the counter,
paid to thieves and
merchants of war.
Untangle the links
of the intricate
maze that reveals
greed’s coronation.

Follow the money
in the pockets
of those who lie
for the state
and dismiss the
disasters invoked.

Follow the money
past the derelicts
and disenfranchised,
past the stricken
faces in any crowd.
Sound advice for
young and old alike.

Follow the money
in the fading years
of the brief grand
American experiment.