'Owed': A poem by Cameron Holleran

Owed

A poem by Cameron Holleran, IGP Poet-in-Residence

Penniless again this month. I feed you with the teeth from my mouth. With stomach cramps. Sweat devalues faster than my brow can drop it. I cock finger-guns at my future, build home with bricks that haven't yet been made, eat before the seeds are sown. Remember feeding wishing wells with coins and nothing in return. Nothing's changed but I no longer hear the splash. You've given me thirty thousand suicide notes, before you, I had not one. Fly-trap triggers go unnoticed, death comes as slow digestion. I was food the moment I landed.