Toggle Menu

Disaster Exposure

Daniel Borzutzky

November 27, 2023

Illustration by Tim Robinson.

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

I could really use a hurricane to deliversuperior fundperformance

What do you see that other people cannot see?

Everything in this poem is on the surface there is nosubtext or subtext to the subtext; the words only meanwhat I want them to mean

Current Issue

View our current issue

Subscribe today and Save up to $129.

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

Tell the story a different way

The doctor says Patient cannot tell the difference betweenwhat 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 hesaysAll you need is a touch of disaster exposure and youwill see a beautiful increase in the returns on your fearpremium

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 moves the needle on important issues, uncovers malfeasance and corruption, and uplifts voices and perspectives that often go unheard in mainstream media.

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 investigate, thoroughly edit and fact-check articles, and get our stories to readers like you.

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

Thank you for your generosity.

But seriously boss

How bad does it have to be before we can call it adisaster

How broken does your body need to be before we cancall 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

Support our work with a digital subscription.

Get unlimited access: $9.50 for six months.

A complex financial product whose name sounds like anatural mineral

(Baby I love it when you saySuperior FundPerformance)

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

There are hundreds of lost bodies and thousands of lostlimbs

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 forso 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 debtandwhen there is no debt you don’t know what to do because all you have ever known is debt

Daniel BorzutzkyDaniel 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.


Latest from the nation