Ponzi Scheme

 

 

In any Ponzi Scheme

Who is at the top?

The originator, my dear Watson,

That is his spot.

 

And how does it flow?

Invariably it is up,

Not as a stream would flow

No such luck.

 

So, the further you are

From the actual top

The less proceeds you will get

Until it stops.

 

Some will contribute

And never receive

And they will count their losses,

Forever aggrieved.

 

 

Visualize a pyramid

Or even a simple triangle,

Notice the broad and stable base

Where the most people.

 

 

At the apex sits one

That receives from all

And next they are those immediate

That under him fall.

 

These all benefit

Down to tier number eight

And pretty much after this level

The returns dissipate.

 

Life in Barbados

Is really a Ponzi Scheme,

That the bottom supports the top

Is clearly seen.

 

A little trickle down

But even this goes back up

For giving it back to the benefactor

Is the beneficiary’s luck.

 

It’s like, I give you this

To pay me back

And when the stated time comes

Let there be no lack.

 

At the top sits the PM

With enormous support

From whom the occasional crumb

Will bring false hope.

 

 

Like the $300 sprat

To catch the elusive whale

When all the hoping the poor did

Was to no avail.

 

Ironically the next day

The petrol went up

Whereupon the poor at the bottom

Angrily cheupsed.

 

Out maneuvered

And cleverly out foxed

The poor people of this fair land

Were flummoxed.

 

Selling their only vote

To the highest bidder,

Even the very little that they had

Went to the Pied Piper.

 

No hope of retrieval

What is done is done,

And another Ponzi scheme system

Is having a run.

 

 

The biggest Ponzi Scheme

Is that of a government

With their onerous burden of tax

Bringing great lament.

 

Promises are alluring

But returns are imaginary

And all the poor has for company

Is abject poverty.

 

Stewart Russell © September 2, 2025

 

A Lament and A Request

 

 

 

If I knew then what I know now

I would not have done what I did then,

Hindsight is twenty-twenty vision

Hence, now I see the problem.

 

I had it all, well quite a lot

But I thought there was more to be had,

So I hatched a scheme and planned it well

But the whole thing turned out bad.

 

I underestimated the one at the top

I did not know what I was thinking

For all along he was aware of my scheme

And next the entire thing was sinking.

 

It was no use weeping over spilt milk

I just waited for another opportunity,

And came it did in another place

And I grabbed that chance with glee.

 

It was like taking cake from a child

And indeed they were more like children,

I pull that one off with great success

This time I created the problem.

 

I got revenge but was still dissatisfied

Even though I had created a mess,

So I waited patiently for another chance

And that one was the test of tests.

But again I failed and miserably so

Even though I had held some odds,

I had to be a slow learner, I now can see

That I took on a failure’s job.

 

Many a man thinks I am smart

And throw in their lot with me,

But they are wasting their time just like I did

And will share in my destiny.

 

I won’t go empty handed and that’s a fact

I did not in my first attempt,

And now my goal is to add to my lot

To those that with me are hell bent.

 

Defeated by the Father and then the Son

And now by the Holy Spirit,

Running out of time and rapidly so

With failure as my growing habit.

 

I will end my lament with this request

As I beg you to join those without hope,

Please, as my emissaries come to your door

I am asking that you give me your vote.

 

Perhaps by now you think I’m a fool

And I am inclined to agree with you

But if all like now you haven’t tuned to God

Then you must be a fool too.

 

Stewart Russell © September 2019