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The Offer
I wind and twist down fingertips
Onto this ink stained page
And few will read the story told
Til the parchment cracks with age
Of a boy who watched the world break
And the man that he became
How he strove to save the rest of you
Though you offered only shame
All his family turned their backs to him
And his friends, they followed suit
But this man still gave up everything
Down to his last torn boot.
He chewed upon the leather
For he had naught else to eat
And carried only rubber
As he walked with his bare feet
He came upon a quiet girl
Her life seemed worse than his
He said "Doll, just to see you smile
I'd gladly give you this.
I know it isn't much to you,
Just some rubber with a hole.
But know that it is all I have,
I offer you my sole."
She took it, smiling meekly
As not to hurt his pride,
He fell to the earth before her
And in that moment died.
She mourned for him a little while
Not knowing what to do
She buried him and on his grave
She placed the piece of shoe
Just before she walked away
A sparkle caught her eye
She dug within the tattered hole
What she found there made her cry
A precious stone of decent size
Had been lodged within the gap
Worth enough to the right men
To place her in luxury's lap.
So the moral as the story goes
Is when a man offers his soul
Instead of taking it from him,
Perhaps help him make it whole.
