A REFUGE FOR POETS WHO WRITE IN THE LYRIC TRADITION,
WITH RHYME AND METER, WITH OR WITHOUT MUSIC
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WHAT IS A GEOSTITUTE
What is a geostitute?
A geologist of ill repute,
Who sells his service to the highest bidder.
What his employer wants to hear,
Sweet nothings in the ear,
The geostitute is happy to deliver.
It is not scientific truth he's after,
For he has the scientific method backwards:
He starts with the conclusion that's desired,
Then proceeds to gather data to support it.
This is the reason the geostitute is hired:
To learn the party line and then report it,
Being careful to leave out
Any data casting doubt,
With the ethics of his conduct not considered.
What causes a geostitute
To wear a tailored three-piece suit
And speak in terms so consciously misleading?
Is it just to please the boss
That his principles are lost?
Is it just the yuppie salary he's needing?
He can make a deadly project sound terrific,
In words that seem so very scientific.
Preferring not to be an outright liar,
He rather would convey a false impression;
And when his specious works come under fire,
He repeats what he has said with such obsession
That he believes it before long,
And he can't tell right from wrong,
And he shrugs at the contempt that he is breeding.
Greenfield, Massachusetts, 1986
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