For what it's worth

“The waitress looks at my face/ as if it were a small tip.” –Stephen Dunn


The dropped dishes
shatter across her nerves
like the jangle of loose change
in her overcoat pocket.

“What am I worth?
Whatever pennies
you haven’t found a use for?
Pocket lint?
Gum wrappers?

Someone once
left me chocolate coins
for a tip.
He thought it was cute.

Tell me this:
will the twelve cents
left over
from the purchase of a lottery ticket
pay for the poems
I didn’t have time to write
and all they might’ve done?

You’ll go home
to your empty house
your ambivalent wife
your old dog
…and you’ll think
about how I smiled
when I poured your coffee.

Then you’ll know
that was the best part of your day

just like I did
when I grinned,
thanked you,
and pocketed your arrogance.”