Inspired by Jacob Lawrence's Harlem Series No. 2, 1943

She does not look at the food as a gift
she receives from God, abundant and shared.
She looks at it as coins available
for a trade. Just show a little more than
the white of her eye to remove the frayed
tablecloth. Show the white of a freshly
pressed dress that matches military
crosses. That white smells of a harsh winter.

She throws the coins like marbles hoping to
grab more as they roll away and fall
like a light inconsequential rain off
the table. Sunlight turns them from smudged to gold.
She locks the door and walks past each street sign,
offers an exchange, a challenge, a game.