Surplus

I was naive about many things
in the world when I asked the young 
retreat participant where she got 
the camera slung like a gleaming 
pendant around her neck and she said 
her parents bought it for her as a present. 
At the cafeteria buffet you could choose  
a protein to go with your bread and milk.
Meat, fish, or tofu and a sauce to go with it: 
green sauce or red sauce, yellow, or gravy.
Perhaps I believed possession was mostly 
a byproduct of your own labor. I knew
the cost of two meal plans vs. three. 
I felt sorry for so much uneaten food.