A penny saved is a penny earned.
A dollar saved is a dollar earned.
This may work when no rent is due
but when it comes what holds true?
"Go to school!" They cry,
"then you'll make enough to get by."
A penny saved is a penny earned.
A dollar saved is a dollar earned.
A high school education isn't enough
Not when the job market is this tough.
But when dollars can't be earned what then?
"Go to school!" They cry again.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
A dollar saved is a dollar earned.
Now I hold a scientific degree,
Tens of thousands in debt was my fee.
"That's not enough," the job market jeers
only confirming all of my fears.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
A dollar saved is a dollar earned.
Two Hundred applications out the door
at this point I don't care who for.
Out of two hundred one returns,
Minimum wage, the offer burns.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
A dollar saved is a dollar earned.
With hungry belly and bills coming due,
I did what I must to make it through.
Minimum wage paid for a degree
I took the offer, but spite burns inside me.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
A dollar saved is a dollar earned.
Is this what I get for being born poor,
A life of lost dreams and delusions of grandeur?
They always said I could be what I want,
so I studied science though I was no savant.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
A dollar saved is a dollar earned.
I wanted to know what made the world work
now I'm left with more questions and lost in the murk.
And now that the bills are coming due,
I'm not sure how I'll make it through.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
A dollar saved is a dollar earned.
With so much money to go around,
you'd think some for everyone could be found.
And even with all that said and true,
A penny to me could be a dollar to you.
About the Creator
The Coffee Ghost
Come weary traveler and sit beside my fire. The world is cold and harsh; this I know all too well. I cannot offer you much besides a cup of tea or coffee and a brief respite from reality.
I'm a "ghost writer", get it?
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Comments (4)
By golly, this is good and dandy! Fit for a king I say, please do pay!
Great
Wow!
Thank you for this one! As a high school science teacher with a rigorous college degree who has to tell kids this message, I felt this poem on a deep level. At the end of the day when I return to my family and have to burn the midnight oil to make ends meet I feel like a hypocrite to those students. Work hard, get your education, and you’ll make enough etc etc, but as a mentor-role model I have to count my pennies, even after a bachelors in chemistry…