Still Broke

The deposit hit at 6:17 AM.

I woke knowing it was coming,

opened the app in the dark,

watched the number change.

It was enough.

It was what I expected.

It meant nothing.

I waited for the relief.

The small exhale

that's supposed to come

when the account

stops screaming.

Nothing moved.

The knot stayed.

Tighter maybe,

or just more honest.

I did the math in my head:

rent, phone, gas,

the things I'll need to buy

that I don't know about yet.

The number got smaller.

I felt nothing change.

There's money in the account.

There's still a hole

where something should be.

And I can't tell anymore

if they're the same hole

or different ones.