I saw you standing on the curb
My car was fifth in line
Then fourth, then third,
And then I read your sign.
“Single mom, 3 kids, lost job”
My hand reached for my purse
Even as my head was saying “No.”
After all, it’s easy to write words on a
Piece of cardboard:
“Out of work,”
“Just lost my house,”
“Anything will help.”
Why did my heart win out over my
Head this time? Maybe because
I saw me in you.
I saw my mother,
My daughter.
I saw every woman who has
Struggled, for whom
Life has never been
A crystal stair.
Every woman who has been
Close to having her own
Cardboard sign.
You cried when I rolled
My window down. I cried
All the way home.
I borrowed a bit from one of my favorite poems by Langston Hughes. I thought I should include it here:
Praying for Eyebrowz 