worth

Minimum Wage

by

To the man I met on the train this morning:

You have kind eyes and a kind heart.
You shook my hand firmly.
You were on your way to an interview.
You were more than an hour early,
and I admired that you hated being late.
You told me you wanted minimum wage
and nothing more than that.
I told you to consider your worth and
I told you you should ask for a little more.
You said minimum wage is just enough
and that if they wanted to pay you more, great.
You didn’t want to lose out on a job opportunity
so minimum wage was enough.

You scratched your head a lot.
You smiled even more, talking away.
You said you were 53, much older than my 23.
You told me stories of your sister and brother,
and how close you all stayed to each other.
You told me I was a good person. Twice.
You asked me where I worked. Twice.
You said your name only once,
and I nearly forgot but now I won’t.

I don’t know if you realized I saw the sparkle
in your eyes when you said you play Santa
every Christmas and have three really nice suits,
even a beard that can fool anyone.
I could tell that you loved all the places and kids
whose holidays I’m sure you lit up.
You never said how much you made in red,
but that didn’t seem to matter so much.
You may end up giving so much more
than minimum wage could ever pay.

But in the end, I hope your interview went well,
and your future boss pays you more
than just minimum wage.

not worthy

by

You’re not worthy
Of my love
But I love you anyway

You made choices
I could never be proud of
But I love you anyway

You never consider
What others need
But I love you anyway

I’m not worthy
To place judgement
yet you love me anyway

on a silver platter

by

what would you do if someone handed you everything
presented on a pretty silver platter?

would you take it without a second thought
or look at it and wonder why?
would you wonder what makes you worthy
or would you think this is easy, isn’t it?

would you wonder why you’re deserving
or simply know it’s yours because it is?
would you say you deserve more
or say that you didn’t even know it?

or would you turn it away because it’s not
something you worked for
and you don’t want anything
that doesn’t show the back breaking
you’ve done over the years?

or would you scoop it up
not realizing that no one has it that easy?
would you realize that people die
for a lot less than the more you get?

so what would you do?

when worth changes

by

exposure to something new
experiencing things you never thought you would
allowing yourself to trust the unknown
as you turn away from what you know

those are the things you remember
the memories you never want to let go of
perhaps shaping who you are the most
for who wants to turn down a chance to be amazed?

but what happens when those memories hurt,
when the thrill has combined with more?
when the smallest thing brings it all back
and you find your heart aching instead of flying?

that’s when you wonder if it it all was worth it…