7 inches in ya wallet
All the power in ya pocket
Not for use but for exchange
Realizations, can’t make change
At the register I’ll decline
Card take the longer wait in line
Barter trade the value system
Capitalism’s reigning kingdom
(Marx called it before the fall
Took us overall)
Unsustainable, mind control
Must take apart and pay our tolls
Value is a sacred sense, ties to desire hence
this unrelenting submission at the register against
I can’t remember my age when my father waged a bet I won’t forget
Come esta cebolla por diez dolares
Sharp on my tongue, crisp in my hand
First taste sell out to the man
Longer sleeves and hems, pubescent problems
Reminders of time as birthday cards under my bed contribute to the stacks thickening instead, configuring
A sense of worth and lopsided sleep, tipping scales of priority
Dreams of cream-cash rules everything / around me
But see I always knew I’d need to leave, cross that bridge to get free
Funds raised and saved, it takes time to cross state lines but always kept in mind, my finish line
Til 15 when pops was short 2 hundo
Handed over singles no doubt it’s his now
—but it ain’t a mortgage or electric so no shortage could strike me
Sour, this house is ours
Bellies full, worth sense shifts
Tales of folklore turn to fights over credit scores
Til a stable minded dad was no more
A brain wiped clean by 6 strokes I seen
Witnessed, soon insurance dismissed
A house eviction, an evaluation of ma’s finances
Acceptance is tuition outta pocket
Debts climbing, look down but don’t drop it
Ivy, start new, boo but remember when the payments due and scholarships paid as long as grind and grades are made
But no stress, mistress
No cash in the mattress
Made it to the city but not without reciprocity
This degree has its fee, promising prosperity
Expenditures grow to show me what wealth can be, taking form in equity and family.
