In the village of Homeville, by the sea, near a jetty,
Lived a sister and brother named Fannie and Freddie.
They liked causing mischief. They thought it was fun.
And they had lots of money for getting it done.
The people of Homeville liked Homeville a lot.
It wasn’t too cold and it wasn’t too hot.
The parents had jobs and the children played games,
And all of the neighbors knew everyone’s names.
But the people of Homeville knew something was wrong
For when someone moved in, they could never stay long.
Their homes weren’t their own, so they’d just have to go
Whenever the person who owned it said so.
It didn’t feel stable. It didn’t feel right.
And no one agreed more than Maggie McWhite.
Maggie said, “What we need is a place of our own.
But homes are expensive. Who’ll give us a loan?”
Fannie and Freddie were lurking nearby.
They glanced at each other. Their glances were sly.
They had an idea. They thought it was funny.
“If they want a house, why, we’ll lend them the money!
But we’ll cut them bad deals so we’ll make something off it.
We’ll triple—quadruple—QUINTUPLE our profit!”
© 2012 Becky Dernbach
Fannie and Freddie 