Even If
If in the past you had patronized
the sandwich shop where I once
worked baking every loaf of bread
or the pharmacy where I arranged
each product neatly on the shelves
answering customers' questions
standing for nearly nine hours each shift
on cement floors in cheap dollar store shoes
with holes worn in their poorly padded soles
paid poverty wages in exchange for my efforts
I would have greeted you with a warm smile
and a happy hello asking how I could help you
as I always did when anyone entered
no matter who they happened to be
Of course I would have recognized you
but I'm not the sort to behave unprofessionally
Even if you had believed me to be the most
beautiful woman you had ever seen and
we had struck up a conversation discovering
we had too many interests in common to count
after I'd made your sandwich to sate your hunger
or found exactly what you were looking for
you would have simply thanked me
and paid the bill before walking out the door
Nothing more
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