ZERO SUM GRACE & FAVOR

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  • Your win my loss, the fence around a couple,
  • a family, a circle of friends, a class of schoolmates,
  • holds in an allotment of good,
  • says there is just so much to be had
  • and the balances must always be calculated,
  • the dabs of luck, the dollops of joy
  • meagerly dispensed within each closed encampment.
  • .
  • Don't get too much now —
  • You keep your mitts off my share.
  • .
  • What if we blew the walls and let it all in,
  • all the triumphs, all the kudos,
  • all the foot-stomping, hand-clapping,
  • good-on-you jubilation?
  • What if we welcomed it all no matter who it favored?
  • You'd rejoice with your mate, your chum, your sib,
  • your chem lab partner,
  • and know you'll have the same from them
  • when the bottomless basket of benefices
  • spilled its blessings into your own grateful hands.