Vanity Fair

What is the going rate for souls these days?

The peddlers hawk their wares;

They put their products on display

Along Vanity Fair.

They pimp their Art along its street

Every kind under the sun

And promise you a thousand minds

All for the price of one.

“What’s your agenda?” producers ask

“Just say it, and we’ll screen it.

Violence? Consumerism? Materialism? Libertinage?

- and charge you by the minute.

I asked some minstrels on the way

“You are lyricists, and sages;

Do you impart to the masses, through your art

The wisdom of the ages?”

“No,” they replied, “We pacify,

And keep them in their cages.”

 

The Master of the Marketplace -

My goods greedily eyeing

Sidled up beside me to ask;

“Are you selling, or are you buying?”

“Neither,” I curtly answered him,

The greed glinted in his eyes

“I'm not a sell-out, never been

Nor do I buy into your lies.”

He laughed, voice ringing with caprice

Says, “Every man has got his price

From Samson the strong, to Solomon the wise;

Anything’s for sale if the price is right.”

 

No, I won’t trade in my values for

Whatever’s the latest fashion.

Losing my soul to gain the world

Doesn't seem a wise transaction…

 

 

 

Reviews

[Brett Pritchard]

Lovely piece. I adore the word play, and the meaning behind the piece is something I really do advocate. The shallow times in which we currently reside where art is diminished and its purpose warped by the money men. Fantastic stuff! 😊

[M.Babu]

this is madly impressive! the diction, the weight it carries...a stellar piece!