What Would You Change Scholarship Slam

“Paper People” by Sarah DiTorrice

 

It was a strange thing

I was walking down the street

When my mind stumbled

And all of the sudden I was stuck

In a world where money

Was essential to living

And breathing

And I was gasping and choking

Because, you know

Air costs money, too.

 

I turned out my pockets desperately

But all I found was generosity and kindness

Worthless things I threw aside.

I begged people on the street

For a dime, a nickel, a penny

And they looked at me

With their paper eyes

And paper minds

And paper hearts

Uneffected and unimpressed.

 

I tried to eat; I attempted to sleep

But it turns out you need money for that, too.

So quite quickly I became cemented to the streets

Like my limbs had been coated

In molten gold

That weighed me down and burned my skin.

I frantically tried to contain it

Before anyone on the street took notice

After days of passing through me.

 

But the gold started seeping into my skin

And hitched a ride on my veins

Which traveled promptly to my heart

And as I continued on

Pushed aside by gold diggers and thieves

Paper eyes on the hunt

I chuckled to myself

And beat my heart of gold.