The Money Game

I don't have money,

I have debt.

But who the fuck am I indebted to?

Who decided my health

ought cost money I need to pay

whether I have it or not?

I did not agree to this system

of infinitely increasing debt.

I have no interest.

I did not consent to the monetary system,

yet it keeps me chained up

in its basement

next to the radiator

taking liberties with my life and body

against my will.

Why is this what we consider normal?

Tell me—when was the vote

on the value of a soul

measured in premiums and copays?

I surely had no say.

When did we agree

that breath was a subscription service,

that pain should be itemized,

that living should come

with a payment plan?

My body is collateral

in a game I never wanted to play.

And every month the debt grows

like black mold

on the corners of my spirit.

I am not delinquent.

I am detained.

And still they have the audacity

to call it freedom.

How?