1. Have an Interesting Snippet to Share : Click Here
    Dismiss Notice

The Reluctant Investor

Discussion in 'Poetry' started by pammor, Feb 18, 2008.

  1. pammor

    pammor Senior IL'ite

    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    5
    Trophy Points:
    23
    Gender:
    Male
    I hesitate to make a list
    Of all the countless deals I've missed;
    Bonanzas that were in my grip -
    I watched them through my fingers slip;
    The windfalls which I Should have bought
    were lost because I over-thought;
    I thought of this, I thought of that,
    I could have sworn I smelled a rat,
    And while I thought things over twice,
    Another grabbed them at the price,
    It seemed I always hesitate,
    Then make my mind up much too late,
    Avery cautious man am I
    And that is why I never buy.
    When tracts rose high on
    Sixth and Third,
    The prices asked I felt absurd;
    Whole block-fronts bleak and black with soot-
    Were priced at thirty bucks a foot!
    I wouldn't even make a bid,
    But others did -- yes, others did!
    When Tucson was cheap desert land,
    I could have had a hip of sand;
    When Phoenix was the place to buy,
    I thought the climate much too dry!
    "Invest in Dallas-That's the spot!"
    My sixth sense warned me I should not,
    A very prudent man am I
    And that is why I never buy.
    A corner here, then acres there,
    Compounding values year by year,
    I chose to think and as I thought,
    They bought the deals I should have bought.
    The Golden chances I had then
    Are lost and will not come again,
    Today I can not be enticed
    For everything's so overpriced.
    The deals of yesteryear are dead;
    The market's soft -- so's my head!
    Last night I had a fearful dream,
    I know I wakened with a scream;
    Some Indians approached my bed --
    For trinkets on the barrelhead,
    (In dollar bills worth twenty-four,
    And nothing less and nothing more),
    They'd sell Manhattan Isle to me,
    The most I'd go was twenty-three.
    The redman scowled: "Not on a bet!"
    And sold to Peter Minuit.
    At times a teardrop drowns my eye
    For deals I had, but did not buy;
    And now life's saddest words I pen
    "If only I'd invested then!"


    by Donald M. Weill.
     
    Loading...

  2. Shanvy

    Shanvy IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    23,659
    Likes Received:
    27,218
    Trophy Points:
    590
    Gender:
    Female
    pammor,

    Thanks for sharing. It is about being there at the right time at the right place and also taking the opportunity that comes your way without fear.
     

Share This Page