Upon the Sea of Anarchy: Canto II

Canto I

Canto II

And now I have to sing the song of Song,

Of Michael Song whose vision was to show

The world the way the poor could become strong

By building for a poor country a brand

New city that would show where we went wrong

In economic governance. And yet,

That city fell, because it was a grand

Success. And now we all have made a bet

On open seas, Jeff Freeman’s city on

The sea, so large that we could land your jet.

You do not know of Jeff Freeman? The son

Of David, son of Milton, each son gone

More radical? But what great Milton’s done –

An economics Nobel Prize – cast quite

A shadow. Jeff, though, he is a new sun.

The grandfather, he tried to work within

The governments he had. He lost that fight

With his success with a dictator. Sin

Soon shadowed economic freedom. Father

Learned, turned to anarchy. But Jeff would win

The hearts of women, men like me who saw

The failures freedom’s faced – you’d ask, “Why bother?”

It’s failed so often – yet so love the law

Of nature to evolve more liberty

That this great city was a natural draw.

And that is what drew many to the plan

Of Michael Song, which seemed for them to be

A sensible approach, since it began

With countries which were poor, make a Hong Kong

That’s open, growing, free, and African.

While Nicaragua was his Lilith, Mike

Was given Eve with Cameroon. A long,

Long legal process in each case – a strike

At first with Nicaragua’s supreme court,

Success in Cameroon with a small hike

Up to the court behind the scenes. That’s how

It worked in Cameroon back then. Abort

Another city? Or do you just bow

To their political reality?
Mike wanted bacon, so he fed the sow.

When I first learned of this, I must admit

That I was thrilled that a proclivity

For dark corruption – yes, it seemed to fit! –

Was underlying this market attempt.

And with my piece the darkness would be lit!

If Michael Song was blind, then moreso I.

If you must bribe, then you can’t trust. Contempt

Is sown among those you must bribe. The lie

Cannot support the truth. And so, although

The city did succeed – one can’t deny

It did succeed – it was not long before

It fell. The government saw Freedom grow

(For Freedom City was its name) to four

Times Cameroon’s own GDP, and sent

An army in because they wanted more.

The city that I saw was prosperous

And cosmopolitan – but when I went

To see the aftermath, I saw a puss-

Filled sore upon the face of Africa,

Such poverty I could not find a bus

To take me from the airport. A tuk-tuk

Was all that I could find. Per capita

Had certainly collapsed. The so-called luck

I claimed the city had was gone – and gone,

Too, was my blindness with which I’d been struck.

Canto III