Fifteen-Cent PARAKEET
Good things come to those who wait
And so we sat down
and waited
and waited
and waited
for good things that never came
Once you asked me
“What’s it like to be worth something?”
I didn’t know, but I didn’t want to hurt you
because if I did, I’d be worth less than nothing
so I talked of the sky and the stars
until fluorescent lights flickered to a pause
You dreamed of a world that was always warm
with plentiful food and smiling faces
and I wondered (and hated myself for it)
did it lessen your shivering?
or your hunger?
or the endless solitude? (more than I could?)
Some nights when you were fast asleep
I looked at the sign above us
and asked the metallic air
if anyone stopping by
would spare thirty cents for the two of us
(because I could not survive alone)
I wish I had asked you
“What’s it like to be worth something?”
because you seemed to know
