Traitorous Fortune

Unlocking the vault
invested with pain

Its riches long stolen
all value is stained

Each bill tells a story
of wantonness greed

With truth sold for dollars
whose printing now bleeds

Locked up in a winter
of coldness and fear

A traitorous fortune
of all you hold dear

Its smell tells a story
the mold growing thick

Corruption inherent
the air makes you sick

Bereft you can’t spend
what you coveted so

Before the interment
when sinking so low

The cash becomes toxic  
it falls from your hands

Its value infected
—insolvent and damned

(Dreamsleep: June, 2023)