What’s the value?
of my time
of untouched woods
of those holy moments
right before sunrise and sunset
of sweet kisses
a baby’s soft breath
laughter on porches?

How do we calculate living?
nickel and dime
how we spend this life
like it’s something we can itemize

Just give me a number.
Put it all in a spreadsheet.

Line item 14: One good cry
alone in the car — $0.75

Line item 29: Rain on the roof while
you’re warm inside —
marked as Non-Essential

Line item 43: Time spent doing
nothing with someone you love —
flagged for inefficiency

Reproduce it.
Make it scalable.
Ensure each joy is branded and backlogged
until even silence has a surcharge.

We want to know what we’re getting.
We want to make sure they’re not getting more.

Make sure those poor folks never get anything for free.
Make sure our immigrant neighbors
are always working
too long
too hard
and still falling short of
whatever the price may be.

Make the system tight.
Tax the wonder.
Bill the beauty.
Subtract the sacred.
Outsource the sunrise.
Sell back the sunset.

And if someone dares to live like it’s all priceless —
mark them as a liability.