Cost of Living
By Nana T. Baffour-Awuah
I crush my soul and sell it for less than $3,500
It costs $132 to make it across town to that job I hate
Food swallows $275 before I have tasted it
The IRS demands $839 like a thief with morals
I must cough up $1,600 for the roach-box I have stuffed my entire world into
And then $218 is sacrificed at the altar of necessities utilities
I can’t afford to dream of the $54 steak I serve strangers every day
The $8 lattes from the cafe next door are out of my reach
And all of the $187 I pay to insure my health can barely buy me hope
So, each month, I tally up my total:
a cent of hope I cling to
a dime of despair I cannot discard
a wallet full of fear, ravenous
a ballot of rage, waiting to be cast
Nana T. Baffour-Awuah (he/him) is a Ghanaian writer and editor currently based in New York. His poems, short stories, and essays have been published in Brittle Paper, Chronogram, Gotham Literature, North Meridian Review, HuffPost, Sierra Nevada Review, and elsewhere. His work has been anthologized, most recently in Creative Stillness (Gatekeeper Press, 2026) and Smitten with the Written (Arcana Poetry Press, 2026) and has also been longlisted for the Coppice Prize. He edits for The Hummingbird and reads for Callaloo. Nana is working on his first book. Follow him on Instagram: @whatnanawrote.
Photo credit: Photo by Anne Preble on Unsplash.
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