Never Enough

Here comes the school supply list by pages.
Crash! That’s 3 bikes needing new parts.
Time for the well check, don’t forget the copay.
Twenty leagues’ distance one hour from payday.

There’re birthday parties coming up to supply
And grocery receipts to fatten the file;
The building startles our wallet with creaks
And petrol tanks begrudge every mile.

It’s never enough. The baby plucks at
My slack eyelids and hikes them to her smile.

The mailman’s stacked our bills—a pagoda;
The check engine light’s ticked up with a gong;
They’ll want swag from old Santa, this heathen horde
We’ll need the next size of clothes before long.

It’s never enough. Reverb from the walls—
These offspring pay up with their silliest songs.