Leaves of Grass Updated
Martin H. Levinson

     I hear America singing, the varied verses I hear,
     Those of stockbrokers, each one singing buy low, sell high,
     The attorney, chanting in Latin as he clogs up the court system with ludicrous litigation to accrue gargantuan fees,
     The medical insurance companies, singing as they raise their premiums and deny your claims,
     The politician, howling his pleas to the public to provide him one more chance after being indicted for a money/sex scandal,
     The avaricious tune of the CEO, singing I deserve my bonus even though the company went bust,
     The rapacious real estate agent, singing housing is back and now is the time to jump on a really good deal,
     The siren song of the public relations agent, singing the praises of deficient and defective consumer goods and services,
     The carefully modulated refrain of the accountant, singing and signing on the dotted line after a desultory glance at invented figures,
     The banker, singing all way to the bank that has been bailed out with taxpayer funding,
     The used car salesman, warbling how wonderful that shiny-looking preowned vehicle that will conk out right after you purchase it is, and you can buy it for a song,
     The borrowed verse of credit card companies, singing take on debt you can’t afford and don’t pay now, pay later at usurious rates of interest,
     Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
     Each singing for their supper, and for your meal, too.

Leaves of Grass Updated – Martin Levinson

Martin Levinson is a member of the Authors Guild, National Book Critics Circle, Academy of American Poets, and is the book review editor for ETC: A Review of General Semantics. He has published eight books and numerous articles and poems in various publications. He holds a PhD from NYU and lives in Forest Hills, New York.