The Cost of Yes
by Opal Hart
· 12/02/2026
Published 12/02/2026 13:03
The card says 'Congratulations' in gold.
The office is quiet, the vent is cold.
I begged for this desk, I cried for the pay.
Now I sit in the dark at the end of the day.
The noodles are sticky, the soy sauce is salt.
This heavy, new hunger is all my own fault.
I’m too tired to swallow, too hollow to eat.
The high-gloss paper is stuck to the meat.