Lit Writ

King of that Nothingness

Fringe ArtsIan Truman — Published September 28, 2010

Where you are the ruler of a vast space nobody else wanted
Described as nothing, nowhere, a no man’s land of nothingness
And you are the king of that nothingness
Until that nothing becomes something to someone

Who sees it as something profitable and who’s rich enough to make it profitable
Because nothing is so easily destroyed and rebuilt into anything
And it’s a fight you can’t afford
Because nothing is all you could ever afford

And even if you won’t sell or won’t budge
They’ll win it anyways,
Landlords
Slumlords
Investors
Bankers

Bastards
They’ll push you out year after year
Little by little, it will happen,
3% by 3%
And a thousand cutbacks at a time

It’s bound to happen.
You’ll lose your job at one point in time
Miss a payment, owe them something and they won’t hesitate
To use inflation, harassment and raising interest
Until you are forced to give them everything,

Left with nothing in your hands and no place to go
The city lights fade in the background as you enter a worse part of town
Where you are once again the ruler of a space nobody else wanted
Described as nothing, nowhere,
A no man’s land of nothingness
And you are the king of that nothingness
But it is bound to start again so enjoy it while it lasts
Because that nothing will become something again
Someday.

This article originally appeared in Volume 31, Issue 07, published September 28, 2010.