Tony Hoagland

Greed

Greed painted on a wall on 20th and Grant—just the word,
Greed. Just that word facing the street
for the drivers in their cars to read
while waiting for the light to change.

No who, no why, or is, just Greed
with no appendage—no promised consequence;
not greed as deadly sin, or greed named
as a traditional form of suffering.

What is surprising is that, after all the words
that have been chiseled into us,
—stenciled, scrawled, printed and embossed,
we still seem able to read one more.

Just the word Greed, at eye level,
printed on the wall at Grant and 20th.
Greed, said calmly, without inflection.