Chump Change
By: Charles Giuliano - Dec 02, 2021
Chump Change
How is it that
There are a few champs
While most of us
Let’s face it
Are palookas
Taking a dive
For chump change
While fat cats
Cut the cake
Even if you climb
Up a greased pole
Top of the heap
Along come the creeps
Get their cut
No matter what
Kathleen told me
Of her great friend
Living National Treasure
An amazing artist
China takes ninety percent
Lives in a villa
Stable of shorts
Such a sweet deal
Getting by
On a pittance
Short end of
Stick it to him
Mao or less
People’s Republic
Of bullshit
We talked about
Gutai artists
From the mid 1950s
Amazing work
Body slamming
As brushes
Sloshing in paint
I remembered them
Wanted to know more
Swept under the rug
As so many are
Lord knows
I’ve had my day
Took no crap
Gave as good
As I got
Duked it out
The gonzo way
Like Demosthenes
Howled at the wind
Mouth filled with rocks
Looking for a fix
I saw the best minds
Ranting and raving
Ravaged savages
Washed up detritus
Half drowned Odysseus
On naked beach
This side of paradise
Words as relics
Splinters of the
True cross
Real tough way
To be remembered
Blood sweat and tears
Have no fear
Everyone loves a martyr
Not fun to be one
Son of a gun
Sun also rises
With or without us
Tomorrow is
Another day
Gone with the wind