Vanderbilt Villainelle

For Bruce:

Will Ratner's scheme now falter?
With his feat of clay now crumbling,
Has Miss Brooklyn abandoned the altar?

Which plans will fate now alter,
As the dominoes go tumbling?
Will Ratner's scheme now falter?

Economic woes assault her
Her suitors now are grumbling
Has Miss Brooklyn abandoned the altar?

Though the politicians palter
The earth beneath them is rumbling
Will Ratner's scheme now falter?

Have the nattering neighbors appalled her
With their brownstone bourgeois bumbling?
Has Miss Brooklyn abandoned the altar?

Sure as Whitman's name was Walter
This rhyme's reason is jumbling
Will Ratner's scheme now falter?
Has Miss Brooklyn abandoned the altar?