On Paying Off Medical Debt

a debtor’s load
the unsurmountable, it seems
a world crushing down
on the wrong atlas
a stack of papers saying all that could be
if only on top of the weight
and not under it

but being crushed
even with a plan to stop the crushing
is a little less life every breath
and a little less joy for each stress
and we long to be free
for the day that we put all our pain
under our feet, with a raised fist
a map in hand, crumpled but not unread
a symbol of all places to go

but we can only lift the smaller burdens
we are helpless to the debt that claims our souls
And till we nod that we have gone to pieces
He will never strip the chain that wracks our whole