212. Money
At first it will seem tame,
willing to be domesticated.

It will nest
in your pocket
or curl up in a corner
reciting softly to itself
the names of the presidents.

It will delight your friends,
shake hands with men
like a dog and lick
the legs of women.

But like an amoeba
it makes love
in secret
only to itself.

Fold it frequently;
it needs exercise.

Water it every three days
and it will repay you
with displays of affection.

Then one day when you think
you are its master
it will turn its head
as if for a kiss
and bite you gently
on the hand.

There will be no pain
but in thirty seconds
the poison will reach your heart.

Victor Contoski

The rhyme and meter of this poem is interesting. It starts off flowing very nicely and rolls along like a child singing carelessly. This is also the part of the poem when the meaning is happy and nice, it is showing all these nice things money can do. It well get you friends and women and they will all like you. This shows the good side of money the part that seems tame and domesticated. The scheme after it makes love in secret only to itself is more broken up, and if you read it out loud it is blunt and angry. This is also when money takes its evil turn and greed enters a persons heart. They become blunt and careless, and the poison that is in the money will reach just your heart because that is where people show compassion and love from.

The symbolism in the poem is the most interesting literary element to me. It personifies money as a pet. A nice little puppy that can curl up, but also speak, and also grow if you water it. So money really takes on all these things that we love, like a small child or a flower or a pet. But it grows and it grows out of our control, we can no longer keep the beast tame for it has gotten too big. Money also is poisonous, from a snake perhaps, which could be a biblical illusion to how tempting money is.

This poem is pretty straightforward, it is clearly about daniel plainview and his greed. It shows the transformation from someone who first gets their taste of money and what it can do for someone and how they fall into its traps that force them to live cold loveless lives. This poem is broad in the fact that it shows that greed can take over anyone, not just an oil tycoon. Money is something that everyone wants and every one is a potential victim to its power.