THE CEO

standing in the shadow
of a corporate glass tower
a man without expression
asks me for change

i give him a dollar
and he looks skyward
mockingly declaring
that he’d been a CEO

i had a big office
wore a suit of blue
i lived to make profits
off people like you
i rode in a limo
drank French champagne
shook hands with the President
he knew me by name

i was brash and i was bold
never would I be undersold
i bought up companies
that were on their knees
and dreamed of a monopoly
holding all the keys

i had a home theatre
with a big screen TV
images larger than life
business news all about me

then
that child in Africa
wearing combats
holding one of my weapons
pulling the trigger
all innocence lost