Now's Glitter

You can buy 100 pounds of junk, or you can save up and buy a diamond. You sort of distantly know you might possibly be able to get a diamond (or at least, the people who do the right thing do, somewhere), but it takes patience and endurance and hard work, and all these flashy sort of clunky baubles dangle in your eyes like candy. You hear that they’ll rot your teeth or turn your neck green, but they’re so shiny right here and now. So shiny as they clink around together on your neck all twisting and linking, and catching on your clothes. They’re teachers you will remember though. But will they make you better after showing you their corrosion? Or have they bled just enough into you to give you a little taste for more? Or have they left enough of a mark that you’ve got to get some more, and keep getting more, just to cover up the tainted color?