Poems / November 27, 2023

Disaster Exposure

Daniel Borzutzky

You ask him if his hedge fund has sufficient exposure
to disaster and he whispers

I could really use a hurricane to deliversuperior fund
performance

What do you see that other people cannot see?

Everything in this poem is on the surface there is no
subtext or subtext to the subtext; the words only mean
what I want them to mean

I am not so interested in the imagination and I am
more than capable of exploiting disaster concerns to
deliver superior fund performance

Tell the story a different way

The doctor says Patient cannot tell the difference between
what he is and what he owes

Describe the aesthetics of the disaster

Every collapsing system is a poem in itself

Lucky for meI am paid by the syllable to write it

You ask him if his disaster risk is heterogeneous and he
saysAll you need is a touch of disaster exposure and you
will see a beautiful increase in the returns on your fear
premium

But seriously boss

How bad does it have to be before we can call it a
disaster

How broken does your body need to be before we can
call it a disaster

He dithers

She dithers

They dither (this is dithering)

Tell the story a different way

The interest in your body is the origin of your world

It all begins with a credit default swap

A complex financial product whose name sounds like a
natural mineral

(Baby I love it when you saySuperior Fund
Performance)

Let’s do some quick math on the quote-unquote back of
this envelope

There are hundreds of lost bodies and thousands of lost
limbs

Are they enough?

The river is in the wrong place again

Is that enough?

The highway is hanging from the mountains again

Is that enough?

The mountains are covered with rooftops

The electric pole has been in the middle of the road for
so long that people have confused it for a work of art

But and

The disaster that surrounds us is not really a disaster

But and

You begin with debt and you end with debtand
when there is no debt you don’t know what to do
because all you have ever known is debt

Thank you for reading The Nation!

We hope you enjoyed the story you just read, just one of the many incisive, deeply-reported articles we publish daily. Now more than ever, we need fearless journalism that shifts the needle on important issues, uncovers malfeasance and corruption, and uplifts voices and perspectives that often go unheard in mainstream media.

Throughout this critical election year and a time of media austerity and renewed campus activism and rising labor organizing, independent journalism that gets to the heart of the matter is more critical than ever before. Donate right now and help us hold the powerful accountable, shine a light on issues that would otherwise be swept under the rug, and build a more just and equitable future.

For nearly 160 years, The Nation has stood for truth, justice, and moral clarity. As a reader-supported publication, we are not beholden to the whims of advertisers or a corporate owner. But it does take financial resources to report on stories that may take weeks or months to properly investigate, thoroughly edit and fact-check articles, and get our stories into the hands of readers.

Donate today and stand with us for a better future. Thank you for being a supporter of independent journalism.

Thank you for your generosity.

Daniel Borzutzky

Daniel Borzutzky is the author of Lake Michigan, finalist for the 2019 Griffin International Poetry Prize and The Performance of Becoming Human, which received the 2016 National Book Award.

More from The Nation

American author, screenwriter, and satirist Terry Southern (1924–1995).

Why Terry Southern Was “the Most Useful Writer” in America Why Terry Southern Was “the Most Useful Writer” in America

The satirist, Nation critic, Dr. Strangelove cowriter, and “eggheaded prankster” was born exactly 100 years ago, and his work remains as relevant as ever.

Column / Richard Kreitner

Mike Faist as Art, Zendaya as Tashi ,and Josh O'Connor as Patrick in “Challengers.”

The Only Relationship That Matters in “Challengers” The Only Relationship That Matters in “Challengers”

What truly matters in Luca Guadagnino’s sexed-up tennis thriller is not the love triangle at its center but all the details that surround it.

Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz

The Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois, 2020.

Want to Fight Mass Incarceration? Start With Your Local Jail Want to Fight Mass Incarceration? Start With Your Local Jail

A new collection of essays from academics and activists devoted to prison abolition focuses on the quiet but rapid expansion of the carceral system in small towns and municipaliti...

Books & the Arts / Jarrod Shanahan

The New York location of the Laugh Factory, 2004.

Is Comedy Really an Art? Is Comedy Really an Art?

A history of comedy’s last three decades of pop culture dominance argues that it is among the consequential American art forms.

Books & the Arts / Ginny Hogan

Jessi Jezewska Stevens

Data, Desire, and Where Fiction Goes Next Data, Desire, and Where Fiction Goes Next

The Nation speaks to Jessi Jezewska Stevens about her new short-story collection, which dramatizes late-capitalist living.

Q&A / Rose D’Amora

Talking “Solidarity” With Astra Taylor and Leah Hunt-Hendrix

Talking “Solidarity” With Astra Taylor and Leah Hunt-Hendrix Talking “Solidarity” With Astra Taylor and Leah Hunt-Hendrix

A conversation with the activists and writers about their wide-ranging history of the politics of the common good and togetherness.

Books & the Arts / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins