When they announced
they were opening
the light market
no one took them
seriously
you can’t monetize
the sun, we said
you can’t sell
something we all get
for free
but then the rich
started buying up
all the light
in the world
they won prizes
for their entrepreneurship
leaving the rest of us
writing poems in the dark
for no one to read.
Next, they started
selling shares in language
and now we literally have
fifty dollar words
you laugh, but when’s
the last time you heard
scintillating
or charismatic
Don’t worry, they said
we’ll let you have
a bunch of words
for free
but we get to choose
which ones
hate, fear, ugly, dumb
 |
Jessy Randall‘s poems have appeared in Analog, Asimov’s, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, and Strange Horizons. Her new book, Mathematics for Ladies: Poems on Women in Science, is forthcoming from Gold SF / University of London. She is a librarian at Colorado College and her website is bit.ly/JessyRandall. |