Crawl For Your Cut

Crawl For Your Cut

Crawl for your cut
that is the price I like to pay
you get to live another month
I get to shave another piece
off what you thought you were worth
today

I sit at the top of a long glass table
watch you shift in your cheap suit
sweat through your lie

You need this contract
to feed your kids
keep your house
keep your head above
that rising cost

I read your desperation
in the shake of your hand
and the way your eyes dodge
the zeroes on the page

Smile slow
lean back
let the silence stretch
till it turns to cold

You try to talk value
try to talk fairness
try to sell yourself
as more than a line

I tap my pen
cut your rate in half
ask if you really think
you have time to decline

You look at the number
like a bullet
that missed your heart
but shredded your lungs

Know you should say no
say yes
with a bitten tongue

I am not just watching you sign
I am watching your spine fold
that is the part I hold

Later in the bar
you laugh too loud
say you made a good deal
say it is a foot in the door

I nod
buy a round
with the cash I skimmed
watch you salute the pen
I nailed to your core

You will work double
triple
chase deadlines
that drag your health
into the mud

while I roll over in silk sheets
barely hear the sound

One day you will snap
and spit my name
through clenched teeth
like a curse

Call me parasite
thief
devil
worst

Tell everyone
I squeezed you dry
till there was nothing left to give

They will nod
then sign my deals
to live