You are an old drain pipe
conditioned by your early life
to repel wealth – and even satisfaction
or contentment.

And so the green runs
straight through, siphoning off
any hope of solvency today – never mind
future well-being.

You’ve no respect for money;
it seems not to care for you. You say
you prefer rusty condition, holy underwear.
Do you really?

Or is it only some self-imposed
punishment you think you deserve,
because, well, your folks didn’t have much
and you shouldn’t either?

It’s hard to treasure someone
who treats himself with such liquid
consistency, considers self – and family –
unworthy of a solid future.

So it is I contend that, while money
will never make a man, respect for the dollar
says something important about him. Listen up.
Do you hear what it says of you?