INFLATION POEM

The numbers climb the shelves grow bare

we trade in air for thinner air.

The wallet bulges with less weight

as time devours every plate.

What cost a day now costs a dream

of broken notes and hollow pay.

The future is priced in disarray

and wages whisper through the seams

inflate the means distort the end

until the worth we seek to keep

lies bankrupt in our quiet sleep

But still we buy and still we bend

Prices rise but meaning shrinks

a coin once gold now folds in ink

what fed a house now feeds a thought

and even thoughts feel overwrought

A loaf becomes a ledger line

each grain a debt each crumb a sign

we chase the ghost of what we earned

and find our hours slowly burned

The weight of need grows sharp and slow

like winter buried under snow

you light your stove with hope and debt

and wonder what you might forget

We learned to price what once was free

to cage the wind to charge the sea

and still we’re asked to bear the cost

of all we’ve given all we’ve lost