Venice, CA—October 13, 2009—8:30 AM

The sky is dark, the world is bleak
The market’s down—all cause for pique.
Contrariwise, bp’s alright,
The larder’s full, the roof is tight.
But Pakistan’s a hopeless mess,
Afghanistan a raw abscess.
Meanwhile, our new book’s coming out
To praise and royalties—no doubt!
Earth, hurtling, falls to flaming hell—
But here, at home, we do quite well.
                     (10/13/09)