Liquid Assets

The ATM spit out a receipt

with a comma I didn't expect to see.

I should feel the weight of it in my feet,

but the sidewalk feels like paper under me.

I bought this coat, heavy and dark and wide,

with buttons made of horn and stitching tight.

But the wind finds every single gap inside,

and I’m shivering in the middle of the light.

I reached for a bill to pay for the bread,

the edge of the twenty was stiff and new.

It sliced my thumb until the skin went red,

a tiny price for something I can't use.