Cost Differential | John Maurer

The price of everything 
goes up when you're unemployed
It's not a slight shift in a continuance 
of shifting incomes and outcomes

It's a weighted hook
sinking endlessly 
into a bottomless 
unexplored part of the ocean

Unimportance is a concept 
for the man who 
hasn't conversed with his consequences
in the crepuscular hours

I'm at a point 
where I can't 
even afford 
sleep for dinner

Time is of the essence 
and sleeping allows 
its capture 
to escape

I have a pillow but can't figure out how to use it
I unscrewed the armrests from my desk chair 
because my arms shouldn't rest
Motion is existence, work is the reward

I'd rather be starving
as a poet than rich as anything else
I care too much about the process
I have entirely stopped caring about its yield