A RELUCTANT INVESTOR'S LAMENT
I hesitate to make a list
Of all the countless deals I've missed;
Bonanzas that were in my grip -
I watched them through my fingers slip;
The windfalls, which I should have bought
Were lost because I overthought,
I thought of this, I thought of that,
I could have sworn I smelled a rat,
And while I thought things over twice,
Another grabbed them at the price.
It seems I always hesitate,
Then make my mind up much too late.
A very cautious man am I
And that is why I never buy. When banks rose-high on Shirley and Bay,
The prices asked I felt dismay;
Whole block fronts - bleak and black with soot
Were priced at thirty bucks a foot!
I wouldn't even make a bid,
But others did - yes, others did!
When Treasure Cay was cheap deserted land,
I could have had a heap of sand;
When Cable Beach was the place to buy,
I thought the west was much too dry;
Invest in Winton - that's the spot,
My sixth sense warned me I should not.
A very prudent man am I,
And that in why I never buy. How Nassau and how Freeport grew!
Abaco and Harbour Island too!
When others culled those sprawling fields,
And with open arms did welcome deals -
A corner here, ten acres there,
Compounding values year by year,
I chose to think and as I thought,
They bought the deals I should have bought.
The golden chances I had then,
Were lost and will not come again.
Today I cannot be enticed,
For everything's so overpriced.
The deals of yesteryear are dead!
The market's soft and so's my head! Last night I had a fearful dream,
I know I wakened with a scream;
Harold Christie approached my bed,
And with a smile he softly said –
For what seemed like an enormous sum,
A private city could be done.
I said it was but swamp and bush,
And in this deal I would not rush.
E. P. Taylor he then searched out,
And Lyford Cay did come about.
At times a teardrop drowns my eye,
For deals I had, but did not buy.
And now life's saddest words I pen -
" If only I'd invested then!"
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