A Good Deal Poem by Terence George Craddock (Spectral Images and Images Of Light)

There are certain hungry commercial sharks
always swimming around offering.
A real good deal on a quick financial dip.

Their commission is the modest
partaking of a quick meal deal.
‘An arm and a leg’ for the taking.

The crunch is the arm and the leg
up for offering is still attached.
To your body you bloody fool.

When a shark pursues the menu
you can bet your top dollar.
He wants a good sized bite
out of a meatmarket body corporate.

Sharks partake of sheep for supper.
And minnows are nothing more
than a quick bite before meal time.

The shark victory honour roll
written in letters of blood reads

DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF SHEEP FLEECED
BY ALL SHARKS WITH A DOUBLE FIN UP THEIR BACK.
IT IS THE NATURE OF THE BEAST.

Sharks have a way of cutting
even the marlin down to size.

This is a lesson
Earnest Hemmingway’s proverbial
The Old Man and the Sea.
Teaches the hard way.

Courage, endurance, tenacity and determination.
Applied through the course of a lifetime in old age.
Is no match for savage mature brutality.
When we find ourselves out of our depth.

Physical courage under pressure
must be moderated.
With consideration for conditions of engagement.



Copyright © Terence George Craddock