Wednesday 13 October 2010

Ralph Cox with the BlackRock UK Smaller Companies fund ...

The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places - Ernest Hemingway

[There's a gap in the market for phoney twats putting literary quotes at the start of their posts, but don't worry, I'm not going to keep it up. This is the last one.]

... on his own, lonely [I know the loneliness], wandering, wandering, out in the astral sunshine. Not afraid though. Strong! At the broken places. Yes, that is Ralph Cox. His soulmate has left him to it. Oh, don't you know? Haven't you heard? Richard Plackett couldn't cope with the burning. He has gone. Withdrawn. Still there somewhere, in the shadows, but not managing the BlackRock UK Smaller Companies f[F?]und. No. Head of the smaller companies investment team. That's nice. Just the head, rolling. Still hot. But not as hot as ... well, you know. And he'll feel the cold soon. Let's not rub salt into an open wound. It's his choice. We must not judge him.

It's Ralph I'm worried about. He won't show it, but he'll be hurting now. Abandonment is a hard thing to come to terms with. I don't care how strong you are at the broken places. I knew BlackRock was getting its act together regarding mystical capitalism, but I had no idea Ralph Cox was a financial shaman. I had no idea Richard Plackett was a financial shaman. I can't keep up. The financial world is changing so fast. It's not the loneliness. Shamans should be able to deal with it. It's the abandonment. You are there, in the desert, with your brother, your soulmate; the two of you, side by side. No women around to spoil things. [Only a handful of female financial shamans, remember. That will have to change.] Then he walks away. 'Richie, where are you going?' Maybe he was called. Maybe a voice told him that his work in the desert was done. We all hear voices.

If Ralph Cox has any sense, he will listen to those voices now. The time for asking questions is over. 'Richie, where are you going?' No! Listen. I will meditate and bring the voices up. One voice: 'Chaos, your heart, unless, you close ... it. Close heart. Lonely one, only one, who touches ... love.' Another voice: 'Let go. Surrender. Fall down. Give in.' [What?] One more voice: '...' Nothing said. That's okay. Or did I miss a whisper? Did the noise of the cold world drown out a few words that would have changed everything, not just for Ralph but for me as well? I guess we'll never know. One thing I do know: Ralph must listen to the voices. They are out there. And in here.