Champagne Murder Devils
For Michael Grover
Champagne Murder Devils
lie lazily, streaming the
measures of evil with every
sip of drunken haughtiness.
Hidden mansions stand among
the humid reeds, where they suck
in their bulbous guts while dipping
swollen feet in a five-million-dollar pool.
Trying to impress twenty-one-year-old coke queens
who came for the ride, hoping to see themselves
on the latest, supreme social media outlet.
Trying to get a name out there—chancing a
shortcut to stardom anyway they can.
Prayers of avarice take place inside the
hot tub, while in the upscale office—
Some asshole attorney is counting
funds for this week’s scam.
Helping the offshore deposits left
unseen and smiled at by Rich Boy Roy.
Who plays the innocent host of
the party by offering the hot new
actor a scotch & soda.
Everyone is in on the racket, replicated
Swindle companies—making billions
with their oil rigs and puppet government
regimes.
The sex-trafficking assholes, who care
less about how many teenagers are getting
raped & in the end…how many lives are
being ruined.
The drugs, not only at the bash he is
hosting, but the money he gets as a
kickback from the Central American
Cartels…One for the Old USA, right!!!
While, as the sun makes it way
to late afternoon…men with
morals try to make it through
the day.
Busting their ass working a twelve-hour
shift. Hoping to afford food on the table
so, the family can eat this week.
Back hurting, shoulders in pain carrying
piping and setting scaffolding for the new
apartment building…Probably backed by
some jerk that’s doing a line of cache at
Wonder boy’s party.
As Michael, an old poet friend of mine
told me a long time ago—this is capitalism
at its finest.
Those scumbags, men without an ethical bone
in their fucking body, leave the American
Dream to those who think it still can be
achieved by hard labor and following the
rule of the law.
“That’s Capitalism Dan” Michael said, with a sad smile.
Walking away, shaking his head.
Well, now at 63… …Watching
Morning Joe berates another political move declared on Capitol Hill.
that enriches
those who lie among the reeds, suck in their gut, and never concern
themselves with filing their taxes.
I now understand what he was saying.
Dan Provost’s poetry has been published both online and in print since 1993. He is the author of 17 books/chapbooks, including Getting Your Bell Rung released by Luchador Press, in July 2025. Notes From the Other Side of the Bed was published by A Thin Slice of Anxiety Press in early 2025. His work has been nominated for The Best of the Net three times and has read his poetry throughout the United States. He lives in Keene, New Hampshire with his wife Laura, and dog Bella.
