Ode to an Ad

We found an ad that shows a farmer

Surveying vast worlds of green.

Far away a lowly mountain

Bows before his stern, commanding

Gaze. All’s in order, all’s control

Here, endless rows and rows and rows

Of green extend out to a vague,

A dim horizon. This isn’t nature,

It’s something more, a kind of manmade

Screen where every gene is modified

And only bits of puffy cloud

Exhibit in a timid and thus halting

Manner a touch of spontaneity.

The theme is “How the world advances,”

 (To where, one wonders, to what end?)

The way has naught to do with

Fertilizers, genetic tricks

Or weed control—though such are quite

Visible here. Rather, to our

Surprise, the deeper secret of

Control, the right to gaze emperor-like

Over a great domain, lies in tight reins

Held in firm hands over Invisibles

Like price of crops, the weather, and

The satanic dance of interest rates—

All achieved by riding on a relatively

Newly-crafted magic carpet—

Trading on the derivatives market.