One of the 185,000 retirees in the multi-billion-dollar Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan

Let the cash flow into my spacious Toronto duplex,

maybe, for not so many more generations. That’s not my issue.

Give free financial reign to white men in dark suits and crisp shirts,

unleash global opportunities in 35 currencies across 50 countries.

Long term growth might be negated by melting ice caps, floods and fires

but I require a forward-looking (just so far), equity-heavy, disciplined approach.

Toxic planes to continue gliding above gilded stocks,

my adjustable wing-backed chair and big TV.

Look, I care about the environment;

the communal gardens an Iranian refugee tends.

I taught geography for decades, for what it’s worth,

now my territory has dwindled

to these plush four walls.

Where my wife sits and seethes with dementia.

 I understand her fury and why our children don’t come by.

Dysfunctional synapses, memory loss. Miscarriages. We’ve had a few.

Too late for me to be concerned about brain-damaging pollution.

But still, there’s scope to monitor the dip and rise of shares.

Another fleeting day is done; it’s finally snowing. A sullied flurry, light as a feather.