Elegy for the Asteroid Miner

I first met you on the margins

 of a century-long revolution,

 a no-name asteroid miner

 exercising elegant labor.

You were simply one of the

 many minimized costs, working

 for their maximized profits.

Did you miss the sun, my brother?

Did you long for the freedom

 hardwired into your soul?

 Had they taken it by force?

You never tasted the depth

 of freedom in its oldest form:

 freedom from debt—a braille

 you could never touch.

You never saw the shadow

 of my celestial body colliding

 with your asteroid.

Only felt the bolts of pain

 ramming your body, a death

 without weight, your dreams

 and life in ruins, another life

 owed to the debtless.