Welcome back One correct answer Could change your life One wrong answer Could make excellent television They brought me through a service door Beneath the painted stage Past a row of smiling winners Getting measured for a cage Woman with a clipboard said "Don’t worry, this is standard" Then she took away my real name And replaced it with a number Camera three was leaking oil Camera six could read your pulse Every light above the doorway Turned your panic into results They said, "Tell us what you wanted" I said, "Room enough to live" They said, "That answer lacks excitement Tell us what you’d sacrifice to win" There were families in the green room Practicing surprise Learning how to cry on cue Without disturbing sponsor time One man won a golden staircase Leading straight into a wall Still he waved beneath the confetti Like he’d finally won it all Every button says press me Every screen says choose They built a game Where playing means You already lose Prize machine Smile for the feed Give it your fear It gives you what you need Prize machine Bright teeth, clean hands You win the box They own the man Red light Green light Stand where you’re seen Everybody pays The prize machine Claim your reward Round two, they rolled a wheel out With our weaknesses in gold "Debt," "Love," "Health," "Attention" Every section bought and sold Contestant to my left said He had children back at home Host leaned close and whispered "Perfect, give the camera something they can own" He spun hard, landed on "Mercy" House declared the word invalid Sirens screamed, the floor dropped open Sponsor called the moment balanced I asked who wrote the rules They pointed upward to the booth Booth pointed toward the market Market pointed at the youth Every answer had a purchase Every failure had a brand Every tragedy was edited To fit inside a human hand They offered me a silver microphone And sixty seconds free Said, "Tell the world your deepest wound And thank the company" I held it like a weapon Without raising up my voice Said, "A choice made under hunger Is not honestly a choice" The host stopped smiling Prize machine Smile for the feed Give it your fear It gives you what you need Prize machine Bright teeth, clean hands You win the box They own the man Red light Green light Stand where you’re seen Everybody pays The prize machine Backstage, there was no treasure Just warehouses Full of unopened prizes Keys to apartments Nobody could afford Medicine with subscription fees Vacations from jobs That would fire you for leaving Nothing in the building was free Not even the exits So I walked back through the curtain While the countdown hit ten Saw the audience signs flashing Tell him try again Nine Security advancing Eight The sponsors pulling sound Seven Every camera turning Like a rifle tracking ground Six I cut the smiling microphone Five I killed the theme Four Put the contract on the lens So every clause filled every screen Three The winners saw their staircases Were bolted to the floor Two The families left the green room And unlocked the service door One The host said, "Think this through You could have everything" I said "You don’t own what people need Just because you built the machine" Prize machine Choke on the feed You sell the wound Then sell what people need Prize machine Bright teeth, clean hands You built the box We broke the plan Red light Dead light Nothing stays clean Nobody wins The prize machine No prize No crown No score No owner I left through the service hallway With my number in my fist Passed the wall of former winners Every photograph dismissed Outside, morning hit the pavement Plain, unedited, mean Best thing I ever won Walking out
