Cold and Harsh and Beautiful

Money is at the same time cold and harsh, 
And also beautiful.
It is beautiful 
Because it is cold and harsh and plain.
It is one thing in life that you can count on
To remain the same.
You bend to its reality 
Or crash against its solid frame.
Two plus two is four. It is the terrible truth 
That most men can never wrap their minds around.
One day we will escape into a math that bends reality.
But that new reality will require a forsaking of the old.
Until then, we face the horror of a truth we can’t escape.
And that truth is both terrible and wonderful
Depending on whether we humble ourselves enough 
To slow down and know the numbers
Or race on toward the doom
That awaits all those
Who won’t.