The Eating of the Lucky

The Eating of the Lucky
I eat what I eat because I landed here
Not because I earned the spread, not clear
That the deserving is the system’s rule
More like the lottery of the birthpool
Determining the neighborhood and food
And income level and the likelihood
Of eating what I eat or not eating well
The eating of the lucky, what I tell
The eating of the lucky, born in right
The eating of the lucky, here tonight
At the loaded table without the cause
Of the deserving, just because
The zip code and the era and the race
Of the birth all fell into the place
That gave me access to the eating’s bounty
The eating of the lucky, the county
Lottery, the national lottery
The eating of the lucky, not pillory
Yourself about it but the honest look
The eating of the lucky, take a book
The eating of the lucky has a cost
The uncounted cost of what gets lost
In the systems that deliver this table
The eating of the lucky is the label
Of the eater who eats without the full
Accounting, the eating of the pull
Of the fortunate circumstance, the long
Privilege of the eating, the ongoing song
The eating of the lucky, born in right
The eating of the lucky, here tonight
At the loaded table without the cause
Of the deserving, just because