Chalkline Dollar Sign

noone’s surprised

that you’re a lyric in a song

sung a hundred times before:

Live fast, die laughing.

I know you ain’t laughing, love.

Irony

per its agreement with fate

has the last word:

it was, in all honesty,

a brilliant career move.

and now you’ve only just begun.

Any idea how many hits you’re getting on YouTube

or how many tweets

&  status updates

and “she’s gone too soon, just like Janis”

are being typed

right.this.second?

Any clue how many downloads they will

sell of yours today?

Your family is in shock

and your loved ones are crying…

but the ones who know better,

the wolves who make money off

the unfortunate ones and

lost souls…

vampires who get paid to suck every last drop of life

out of your talent

are already scrounging around

throwing together you last hurrah…

your vexed, misunderstood

“artistic masterpiece” as the critics are sure to call it

they’ll love it

and you

and the fans will buy it

and the people who never heard you before today will

buy it

and the Wheels of Commerce

will consumate with the Price of Fame

and whatever is left of your soul will be spit out

when they’re done with you.

the fortune cookie you’ll never open

says You’re Number One With A Bullet.