I cut my gold card up.

I drink my coffee black now.

I’m living a lean life. A life of value.

Sleeping on the floor like a bloody Spartan.

Working hard for my dollars. Or sometimes not at all.

But always aware.

Knowing what they mean. How they come. At what cost.

In time. In life.

I cancelled my gold card.

Cut it up and dumped it in the trash

with the eggshells and pork chop bones.

This gold is not wealth.

The wealth is in the building.

The Strong life is architecture.

Structure.

Structure to hold the golden empty space.

Of stillness of mind.

The quiet that holds everything.