this head presses back against the soft cushion of my chair
a sideways tilted chin and a face is bathed in the harsh glow
of a computer monitor while the evening hours dwindle
toward the morning din of people doing what they do to
live this life of exchange

and exchanges are made
we exchange free time for work and
work for money and money for consumables

we exchange lust for love
we exchange love for a cool friendship
and friendships for social networking

we exchange truth for the satisfaction of judgments
and justice is exchanged for speedy process
and process is exchanged for the bottom line

and while the virtues of Jesus Christ are
exchanged for the vices of Machiavelli
Mother Mary is only a lyric in a song by
a group of bugs and the devil applauds.