How do they sleep at night?
Soft skin wrapped like jewels in silk and satin pajamas, heads resting on feathers
in their oversized beds, which cost more than months of daycare
for a struggling parent, who shares her room with her children,
who is grateful for last night’s leftovers.
.
How do they find peace, alone, before sleep,
knowing their bonuses,
their short-sighted decisions,
their cheap labor in foreign lands,
their abstractions handed to us like facts,
crash markets, kill families, foreclose homes,
push people to the brink of bankruptcy, suicide, desperation.
What do they dream about?
Do they sleep soundly, waiting for the next day’s golf game?
Have they shielded themselves well enough to not know,
to not care, the people’s backs whom have built their mansions
are breaking? Don’t they know nice clothes, long vacations, big houses, private schools, are laid on the foundation of working class people
who worry at night about their mortgages, rent, safety, food, utilities…don’t they know
their foundation is cracking?
Do they say prayers of thanks for bailouts and blind eyes and ignorance and apathy?
How do they awake? Refreshed, and full of vigor,
ready for the next behind-closed-doors meeting
with a senator or congressman, who’s campaign trail
needs paving with their well-rested greed.