Please
I say.

Please don't go,
            I beg my grandmother
        when her breath wavers
                   and her milky eyes
                                land on me.
Please don't tell them,
                   I cry to my teacher
                when she caught me
                  smoking a cigarette
              on the empty rooftop.
Please don't break my heart,
                     I whimper to him
                       when he cradles
                               my wet face
                               in his hands
              which feels like home.      

Thank you
I say.

Thank you for coming,
                    I greet the visitors
                        dressed in black
                  when they whisper
         and peer at my dry eyes.
Thank you for everything,
                       I tell my parents
                    when they left me
            at the boarding school.
Thank you for the gift,
                         I smiled at him
                     when he gave me
                           pearl earrings
                                     to adorn
                  my unpierced ears.

Of course,
        Please and Thank you
can be
                            beautiful too.

Please
I say

Please keep him safe,
                        I plead to God
            when my brother left
                     to join the navy.
Please come again,
I called out to the customers
              when they stroll out
               of my bustling café.
Please buy me ice cream,
                     I grinned at him
               when he waved me
                                  goodbye
                      ­   over the fence.

Thank you
I say.

Thank you my dear,
     I chuckled at the little girl
           who said I looked like
                                       a fairy
            in my wedding dress.
Thank you for the surprise,
  I cried with my best friends
       when they bounced into
                                 my home
                             with pots of
                          birthday food
                      made with love.
Thank you for life,
        I whispered to the trees,
                              flowers,
                   ­      sun,
                    chocolates,
               myself.

They are manners,
but they are also much more.
     tell someone
          please
    and thank you

today.