When you’ve tapped into your future
like home equity,
borrowing ahead
until the hours meet in the middle.

When you drink and sleep the day away,
then stay up all night
to lead a well-balanced life.

When you alternately
pile butter and honey thick on bread,
then stick your finger down your throat
to fast from communion to communion,

you learn how to balance the books
well enough to fool the auditors for a while,

but sometimes deficits are a matter of life or death
and the day always comes

when you learn wind is hungry for ashes.