of ignoble origins was the grandee
glissando's of tongue to lip glozed truth
with the skills of Van Gogh's ebon brush
his honesty flowed from River Acheron
seizing souls of greed and pretense
with a pickpocket's alacrity he flourished
pride and egos filled his quotas daily
complexity stirred the pot of imaginations
vulnerability danced and kicked heels high
only the faithful and simple minded
refused participation in the high stakes ruse
for surely they were incompetent
to share in the grandiose benefits
the grandee's skilled scheme offered
to the many of pseudo affluence
to those with esoteric knowledge
the ship to Hades was now loaded
with screaming souls begging their release
the poor souls that participated not
looked on in horror for their fellow man
compassion and love had not escaped
nor eluded their simplistic views and ways