Economy - Noaa Rienecker

I am content 
with a pair of overalls
and clean socks, 

happy to sleep 
under a bench 
at the airport, 

thrilled at the 
poetic ecosystem
of the subway
and the rhythm 
of pedestrians.

I smile and nod
at Thoreau’s 
pecuniary pragmatism, 
and yet -

I may as well 
be buying 
designer shirts,
reserving
hotel rooms, 
and hailing
taxis

for all my zealous devotion
to comforts of a different kind,
to the holy pint,
the rich sandwich,
and especially
all those inescapable delicacies 
of the street
that change places underhand
with green wisps
of vitality.