seven dollars, yet she had
no paper. Just change.
I laughed to diffuse
the awkwardness some people
feel when they pay in
coins, but she only
smiled a self-conscious smile
and showed me her sign:
"Out of work mother.
Hungry and nowhere to go.
My baby needs food."
"I have the money,"
she said, pointing to glinting
change on the counter.
"I didn't mean to
be impolite," I assure her,
"of course you can pay."
After counting out
her bill, she hoisted her child,
still asleep, higher
on her hip, smoothly.
She sat down with her food and
ate with no shame in
her eyes. She had paid.
As she rose to leave, I asked,
"May I give you this?"
Two dollars changed hands.
Not even another meal,
but her gratitude,
in the form of a
quiet "God bless you", confirmed
her need for those bills.
I hope she finds a
bed for her baby tonight,
if not her own bed.
I hope I can keep
her face in my memory
to remind me
to never suppress
a kind impulse. I hope
to learn charity.
