Poem: She Served

She served
tourists and middle class
midday workers lunch
with an ocean view
gathering plates and empty
coffee cups, dirty ashtrays
she served
wealthy couples steak
and shrimp cocktail
then dug her feet in lakeside
sands while sipping
Singapore Slings with
the children of the rich
she served
she served
her country, feeding
airmen and officers
food cooked in hot kitchens
in heavy South Pacific
island humidity
she served
pilots, cops, and administrators
each weekday, one
weekend per month, two
weeks in summer,
and in serving, found freedom
she served
bosses, spouses, children,
those who came to
seek her generosity
in a myriad of ways
she served
with words and dreams
with time and resources
with hope and love
and in serving, found purpose
one day she stopped,
looked back, and thought
to herself,
I served, and in serving,
I lived.

(c) 5.8.18