Strutting down the street her feet encased in
Prada grey suede striped detail pumps
Her Italian leather bag clutched in one hand
Starbucks' Mocha latte in the other
She passes a tearful woman huddled
In the doorway of the building
Next to her office never thinking
How the woman could eat for the day
On what she paid for her usual
Morning pick me up beverage.

Meanwhile overhead a corporate jet
Flies over a quickly filling tent city
Its occupants not knowing or caring
That some of their laid-off employees
Are below stretching canvas to provide
Shelter for their children who are
Now homeless and finally realizing
What the word foreclosure really means.

She'll stop on her way home for a
Drink with the girls, end up having three.
The execs in the corporate jet will
Be sipping Grey Goose vodka
While wondering who'll be laid off next.
Children in the tent city will go to sleep hungry.
In a blink Prada and Grey Goose
Will be stretching canvas next to the children
All the while wondering what in
The hell happened, while Starbucks
Goes belly up.

© Marcia Miller-Twiford
2/27/09