I Don't Waste Food

I used to be able to sit cross-legged when I was 5

I would curl up into a little ball

Most likely because I was 4 feet tall

And my body could bend in all sorts of ways

And bruises and scraps would magically go away

Like the problems we faced on a regular day

Of school

Kindergarten was where we used to rule

But 11 years later and my mind is all torn

I’ve got people to see and work to do

And a laundry list of things to get done

Some days it’s likely I don’t see the sun

Cuz I’m crammed in my room suffering from work

And I complain to my father

That it’s senior year and I should be out.

We all have hard.

And that’s all I really have to worry about.

But you see

Its my complaining and maintaining which

Makes me realize what I’m saying

And how my words actually sound

To the people I see around

The ones who struggle and fight for food every night

And those who are forced to find the hardest ways

To get any sort of pay

We all have hard.

But I see

More than the average rich white American.

Because I see

The opportunities given to me

My parents always told me “Don’t waste that food on your plate”

Because food was a gift but I was too cross-legged to see that.

It’s the gifts I’ve been given that I need to make a living

Not for me

But make a living to better someone.

Life is about relationships

And I need to make them meaningful

There’s no major in college for the collage I’ll major in

Relationships with people of different backgrounds I’ll savior it

Helping people finding jobs to raise their kids who do nothing but sit

Around and wait for someone to educate their minds that haven’t been lit

Because I complain and maintain your average GPA

But I’ll gladly try to fix problems of the world without seeing day

Because sometimes that cross-legged kid curled up inside you like a little ball

Feels forced to change the ones who struggle into the ones

Who can tell their dad it’s their senior year

And that their family no longer has something to fear

Because they will get an education and a job

That can keep this family alive and away from the mob

And they thank their parents for the opportunities they were given

They will live well while wilding living.

My body used to bend in all sorts of ways

Now it’s sore and rigid and I must stretch to play

But my mind which was once so torn at 16

Is now bending in directions and I’ve got a new view

And it starts with the relationship of me and my food