Credit

Trade began,
A pot of this for a fold of that.

Convenient coins of favoured metals
Soon offered accepted value.

Coin conceded to note,
Paper symbol of wealth
Held somewhere else.
Commerce abstracted.

Abstraction flourished.
The system grew universal,
Reserves were abandoned
Without disruption.

Credit allowed holding now
What would be settled for later.
Payment pushed to tomorrow.
Abstraction became complete.

No inkling of a pot of this
For a fold of that.
We consume the future,
Beyond comfort, with compound interest.