When the Arrivistes Slipped Through

We couldn't simply estimate the cost:
So many variables to factor in –
The weight of Samson's hair, the price of tin,
The gold with which the stickers were embossed,
The arrivistes, how many souls were lost,
And just how many forkfuls of shark's fin
Were added to the soup – made our heads spin,
And then we learned that we'd been double-crossed.

Someone put pyrites on instead of gold,
The bauxite market plunged, we were inept
At customs, so the customs that we kept
Had more to do with truth than stories told
Around the campfire. Now we're growing old,
And giving up the fight. How we have wept!