i sit and watch you and wait like a dog
always just two steps behind you and
always just begging you for scraps

as if two seconds of your attention
would be enough to fill my empty, empty stomach
as if two mere seconds would ever be enough

but you can't even give that-
my friends say i'm too nice and you just call out my name
and when i see that familiar self-satisfied smile on your face

i just become a bad liar and i just look the other way
and i go back to pretending like your bare minimum
is enough to fix my bellyache

"They make a dollar.
While I make a dime.
That's why I always ****,
On company time."

Why do you waste your life
Making dimes and quarters
When you can spend your mind and time
To go make some dollars

was uttered in a
computer generated,
non-demeaning,
gender neutral tone
by the impersonal,
unemotional,
automated,
grocery checkout machine.

"Enter your customer ID now!"
demands the artificial human.

"And... if I don't?"
I query the metallic shell
of what once was
a minimum wage employee.

There was no reply.

Hello

Thank you for stopping
How may I help you?

I would like
two items
from the value menu
to feed my children

Nothing for me
I will go hungry
A few dollars
is all we have

The kids are in the back
of our rusty car
our home on wheels
In need of repair

Rent was late
the electric was turned off
their father left us
we were evicted

no support from
our family
our "friends"
or the government

we are alone

By the way
may I please use
my employee discount?

i have to accept that i was just a place holder for you
someone you came to because no one else even scratched the bare minimum
loving you with all my heart was never enough because in the end i was never what you wanted

i am a convenience

there is no answer to why

disposable
even when i dont try

I can't give you all of me
I can't give you the part you want either
I can only give a bare minimum
And that's not worth anything
So I would rather have you hate me after loving me so that when I'm gone it's easier for you to get over me
*Or I would rather have you not fall in love with me at all