The Banker Beggar's Loss

The Banker Beggar’s Loss

The beggar asked the banker,

Sir! Can you spare a dime or two,

The banker ignored the beggar,

So the beggar ignored him too.

The next day the beggar refined,

His fine begging-a-beggar-begot ,

And so he asked, once more, the banker:

Sir may you lend me a dime or two.

Those days were bright and sunny,

And so the banker lent the beggar some change,

Zero interest, the banker said.

“No interest?”

“Yes, I am not interested in you.”

The days went by and the beggar,

With his refined verbal abilities,

Amassed such a big fortune,

That good fortune became his deed.

When the market crashed like a wave

Crashing on a helpless angry rock,

The beggar, now rich, looked at the banker,

And asked him if he’d like to sell his stock.

The banker sold for a loss, all his shares -

And all his stock,

In return for all the beggar’s fortune

(which he kept in his holeless socks).

The beggar then tried selling the stock,

To the people in the streets,

The same people he was begging from

In the early mornings of last week!

But in a tragic turn of events,

The market emerged from defeat,

And the beggar, poor beggar,

Now had worthless stock,

And no socks to warm his feet.

The beggar asked the banker,

Sir! Can you spare a dime or two,

The banker ignored the beggar,

So the beggar ignored him too.