cutting losses

as Aeroflot goes on the auction block
Bashar Assad knows he'll be on his own
no further rubles to reset his clock
his patron's broke and he's in this alone
a foreign war keeps voters pacified
but trying that too often would be rash
the hungry peasants can't subsist on pride
and empires fall when they run out of cash
the fracking boom has pushed crude oil's price down
while Russia has no other revenue
this Assad fling's a night out on the town
he can't afford while other bills are due
when Moscow sneezed, Damascus caught a cold
and allies bought for cash are cheaply sold