The man of distinguished personage traversed from the east.The head dress of black linen to hide his eyes concealed his heart. The tribal edict he possessed sought a path to avoid the future. The road of grueling strife and holy hardship divide.ANALYSIS:
The quatrain begins with a man, not just any other man, but a wise man. He came from the eastern regions of the earth carrying a message. He was one possessed of magical powers, perhaps sorcery - described by the hat that “hide his eyes and conceals his heart” - pretty much like Slash’s hairstyle. (VIEW SLASH’S HAIRDO)
This reminds me of what happened that year. Just like the G&R Tour in '92, it was tumultuous. I was in the east coast, at a major seaport waiting for a freight container that was already months late. The trio of Charlie, Mike and Fred whose business I joined, owned an “Importing Company”. They had staked their fortunes on this one shipment, throwing in their life savings into the whole thing. They were either going to strike it rich or sink like a miniature Sanpan in a laundry machine on full-cycle. There was talk of them engaging in illegal activities, maybe smuggling. What exactly they were smuggling, nobody had any clue. So, I was going to try to find out for myself.
It was an assignment on the behest of all their ex-wives - Monique, Heather and Robin who hired me to investigate. I found a way to work in their husband’s company so I can find out the truth. The ex-wives were now all worried about the alimony and child-support payments ending. Actually, they figured it was their retirement. If the checks were to stop coming so goes all the perks - the girlie get-together at local watering holes, the parties, the shopping trips and the discreet vacations and boat cruises. So, they thought it wise to band together and called their group the Consortium.
There were signs of the “Importing Company” being in trouble - coming unglued - as the ex-wives called it and they wanted to be able to protect themselves. From a distance it made a whole lot of sense. It was like Charlie, Mike and Fred were throwing the last roll of the dice and they were going all in. Losing means they get to fold the tent. Winning means happy days keep on rolling in.
But, the news finally came and the boat was capsized off the coast of St. Lucia and I had to break the news to the ex-wives. So, I showed them a clip of authorities having a news conference. We could not locate the original news clip but in case you’d like to know, this is how one looks like. This was a news conference about a capsized freighter in 2010. (VIEW NEWS CONFERENCE)
When they saw the clip, the ex-wives could not decide whether they were sad or they were happy. They were so SHAPPY, as they put it. At the get-together, it was like a celebration and they put out a spread - hor d’oeuvres, waiters with black ties serving bubbly and tables with linen and flowers.
It did not end there. Collecting the insurance money was another thing altogether. That is something we’ll tackle on the next installment of the Yesman.
ANALYST 147X
