The Budget: Unexpected Expenses

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THE BUDGET: UNEXPECTED EXPENSES


Just how much

we fight about the God


damn budget. 


Just what would it cost

if God were actually

not the pawn picking his way

down the side of the board

until, finally stuck, we flick

down with a wooden click?


It’s being slowly leeched, 

the carotid of the child's

belief, and we must sit here

smiling on the porch to sooth 

the confusion of the dying.  


Our loves and fear are tangled 

like an old ratchet strap, 

and we've a long trip ahead

of us, our hearts in tow.


Never enough time

before it's time to go.


It's a peculiar malady,

if none too rare: Where

is the waiting room

for those of us who both

love being here and can't

wait to get away?


We’ve locked the door

and now hate each other 

for lingering so.


Now we know

about our moms and dads.

We asked!


The goal was living

transparently, and now

people can see us. 


The poor are always

popping up right when

we're about to settle in 

for the evening or enjoy 

a cup of coffee, slipping

like espresso steam

through the locked window

to cool our contentment.


We've wandered so deep 

into the trinket shop 

that when it’s time to leave 

we look up and realize 

we can’t find the door. 


Is this tedium to be expected

or a symptom of the infection? 


Wait, it might actually turn out

alright. Then what?  


Wait, we don’t have enough. Wait, 

we have too much. Again, 


let’s revisit this.


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