Receipts in the Shoebox

Mom kept the receipts in a shoebox by the stairs Bread, bus fare, little proof that we were there Every faded ribbon had a month folded in I used to see the numbers, never saw the discipline She could stretch a Sunday chicken through a working week Still slipped an extra sandwich to the kid across the street Now I read between the ink that time erased Every tiny total has a human face Keep the shoebox, keep the years All the little ways we made it here No gold chain could hold that weight Love was paid in everyday First real paycheck, I was loud about the flight Said I'd buy her somewhere blue with a room above the tide She asked for garden soil and a Saturday with me Said she'd rather watch tomatoes than a screen beside the sea We dug until the evening made the kitchen windows shine She kept the soil receipt and filed our Saturday away Keep the shoebox, keep the years All the little ways we made it here No gold chain could hold that weight Love was paid in everyday My daughter draws a flower on the back of one today Mom folds it like the others, doesn't throw a thing away I ask her what it's worth, she just laughs at what I said Some things never had a price and still kept everybody fed Keep the shoebox, keep the years All the little ways we made it here No gold chain could hold that weight Love was paid in everyday Cardboard by the staircase, not a trophy on a shelf The way she kept us going taught me how to keep myself