Catalogue of Ships, Chits and Tricks

The city quickly rebuilds from the ashes, thanks in part to credit arranged by banker and entrepreneur Jacob Furth, as well as brothel owner Lou Graham.- Alex DeVeiteo, “This Month in Cascadian History”

From waterlines to forward fo’c’sles
From lumbered wood to dry-dock slips,
From mast and rudder’s groaning axles,
Moran, mighty maker of ships!
Securing lucre, bread and lolly,
From dynamo and lengthened trolley,
From credit lines to bottom lines,
Furth, fantastic fixer of loans!
From silks and stays unleashed and peeling
Lou Graham the gracious madam, pimp!
Her kneeling, laying products tempt
With plunging neckline, mirrored ceiling…
From lines thus counted proud, erect,
Seattle’s fortunes resurrect.

Comments

  1. Quin Finnegan says

    Yeah, this whole prostitution angle is one I enjoy. Lou Graham is the Al Swearagain of Old Seattle. For the next stanza you need to work in a reference to “Midnight Blue”. Great find!

    • (I just had to look up who Al Swearengen was.)

      Hey, I just opened the vein – it’s all our job to stanch it.

      I didn’t think the story would be complete without Lou Graham (The first Foreigner with that name…!) and Jacob Furth.

      It sounds like a good bad joke, actually: “There was this Irish Catholic mayor, an Austrian Jewish banker, and a German brothel madam at a city fire, see? and the Irish Catholic mayor turns to the banker and madam and says…”

      JOB

  2. Angelico Nguyen, Esq., OP says

    Thematically tight, loosely comical. How do you do it?

    (Rhetorical question.)

  3. Jonathan Potter says

    Nice use of the italics. This just kills. Well done.

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