The title says it all. I want a haiku on the current mess on Wall Street. I may add additional prizes if there are several clever entries.
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on October 5, 2008
- Rewards: Gold: 1000, Silver: 300, Bronze: 100, Honorable mention: 17 people
- Final notes: I want to thank everyone for entering. The contest was extremely difficult to judge. The entries were far better than I could have hoped. As you can see, I added additional trophies.
Everyone who entered got at least an honorable mention. I felt that all the entrants should be rewarded, just for paying attention. My personal favorite was Too Bah because it captured the general sense of indifference and inaction. However, because it was not a haiku, it couldn't win. One entrant withdrew before judging. If my comments were too harsh, and that entrant reads this, I apologize.
As a former Wall Street insider, my personal take on the mess would be closer to this:
Indifference
Automatons churn out
risky paper in high winds.
Bleak consequences.
I couldn't see much humor in the whole thing, but some of you evidently have lighter hearts than mine. That is what motivated the contest in the first place.
I notice that greed was the dominant theme. I suppose that it is the logical choice for entertainment value. On the other hand, the people who floated the bad paper are mostly workaday Joes that show up for work Monday through Friday, gin this stuff out using known mathematical rules and really don't get paid all that well.
Now their bosses... That's another thing. We expect them to know better, but that is inconsistent with my experience, too. One of the riskier aspects of the human experience is that we can do things that almost no one understands. Our ability to accumulate knowledge is both our greatest advantage and our greatest peril.
Lady Justice is blindfolded, but not stupid. I imagine she'll peak closely to see which side of the scales contains the incompetence and which side holds the greed. Here's hoping that the punishment fits the crime.
Other than Stockbroker and Too Bah, the honorable mentions are in no particular order. I note the former's elegance and ironic ambiguity.
Contest Winners
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No rules! MY profits!
But when economy tanks -
• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
by Malabu 9 lines, 10 comments, on Oct 2 8:28 AM 2008. In haiku/senryu, political
Silver trophy winner
• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
The Bear is growling,
the Bull is no where in sight.• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
broker in an oak
he must come out of the tree• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
by AliceinPoetryLand 2 lines, 7 comments, on Oct 1 6:36 PM 2008. In Contest, Haiku
Honorable mention
• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
Haiku for you, George
for porgy, pudding and pie• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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by Haiku-bless-you 9 lines, 6 comments, on Oct 4 8:19 PM 2008. In Contemporary, Society, thoughts Honorable mention
• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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Today falls apart
and tomorrow wages war• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
Those greedy bastards,
worship money and power,• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
by cre8tiv-writer 2 lines, 11 comments, on Oct 1 6:06 PM 2008. In Contest, Politics. Honorable mention
• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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dollars and cents toss
themselves through a wood chipperby Amergin 2 lines, 2 comments, on Oct 1 7:13 PM 2008. In Haiku, Society, Contemporary Honorable mention
• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
• Commented on by judge. [remove]
Gold trophy winner
Bronze trophy winner
Entries [19]
1 - 19 of 19
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Comments
1 - 5 of 5
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Excellent contest!
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This one turned out great, didn't it? The entries are so good, it's going to be hard to judge.
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Fabulous contest idea. I'm not supporting a bailout as it stands. Sometime you have to fall all the way down before you can gracefully get your bearings to stand upright. Through no fault of the average American public,trust has been decieved on a massive scale. And most monies would be paid out to foriegn banks. Mainly China.We need to stop the bleed of this Iraq fiasco like yesterday and quit borrowing from China.We must start paying down our debts and best to stop living on paper not backed by gold and silver.Ok,enough from the peanut section but it's all true.
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Congratulations to the winners and thank you for the HM and for hosting
Gaylene
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thank you muse for the honor of silver...this was an inspirational release for my political discontent to all the sleazballs we call congress...congrates to all the winners and thanks for hosting
mal
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