Unknown appraisers of artistic economy
Long ago proclaimed
A picture is worth a thousand words

Have we adjusted for inflation?
Rise and falls of expressionistic currency.
The crashes of markets and style.
The Eskimo language
Has a thousand words for one English noun
That must fluctuate the prices.

I never paid much attention
In class
When they discussed supply and demand curves
I was writing
Phrases and couplets
Of nonsensical angst then.
Now,
Pursuing the price indexes for
Sonnets to Still lifes
I feel
Writers are getting
The short end of the exchange rate.