The Truth About Tigers

Success isn’t a balance sheet,
nor is wealth the measure of a life well spent.
Fortune is not currency alone,
but the quiet resonance of something made,
something true—if only to you.

A wealthy friend once told me
there’s no money in poetry,
as if profit is the point of a pulse,
as if value must be tallied to be real.
But art is the freedom
to spill what’s inside
without asking if it’s worth the mess.

If money vanished tomorrow,
would you still do what you do?
If yes, then follow it—
not as a pastime,
but as the lighthouse it is,
guiding you home.