Newfangled ways bring us our news for free
And posts from family and friends too
Our searches are wondrously free as well
But bartering, is really nothing new
The difference is that now we look
Only at the money we pay to begin
For a few pennies saved upfront
We are all too happy, to take it on the chin
For our time is at least as precious
As is our health and mental quiet
But our poor accounting of these currencies
Has us overpaying even without buying it
And ironically the selling party
Today earns that much more
For having provided something for free
Frees them, from the onus of yore
Now this really isn’t anything new
For ads have long interrupted radio
But because the price of reach has fallen so much
We are now steeped in it from head to toe
Caveat emptor is our only defense
But why’s it okay to pick on our vices
Without a spotlight on caveat venditor
We’ll linger longer in this man-made crisis
Though, with our heads-down we can achieve
It also blinds us to where the path leads
When we’re all inveigled to look the same way
We grow more likely to cultivate weeds
Money, by far is our cheapest currency
So let’s deploy it with commensurate ease
We can once again become better barterers
By looking to the forest and not just the trees
