Economy of Service

She always said she wanted to build up
all the money that she could to buy
out all the houses that they took away from
people who paid their rent to those
that didn’t make their mortgage as they promised.
All she had managed at the time
was a garage that all her friends
would use for storage,
and a bike that she would ride
to all her jobs like doing laundry
for an old man who lived in
a neighborhood so nice it had a gate
to keep her out that she would wait
by while the office buzzed her in.
She was a life guard on the weekend
at the city pool where she would chat
with swim team bench warmers
while the others did their drills
out in the deep end.
At the end of the day while the sun
was setting she would run a net
through the surface to clean out
all the fallen leaves and other things
like contacts that would stand out
when she held it to the light.
She made her way home every night
before preparing for her shift
down at the bakery where the bread
would rise like breathing, and the people
would be dreaming of a morning
they could finally enjoy.