Every slight chips away a piece of me
As I try to put a price on the dignity
My boss has slowly chipped away
Embarrassment and degradation remain
Longing looks $75
Licking of lips $130
Grazing backsides $100
Peering down blouses $50
Massaging shoulders $60
Fingers trickling down arms $30
Promotion dependent on traveling with him $250
He says he wants to taste my sweet cake $#!#!#!
Slowly, I take home one item at a time
Until there is no trace of me in the office
I will leave for lunch and not come back
The ID badge will forever hang from my rearview mirror
So I will always remember treasures I wouldn’t give up
My coffee cups says “Good Morning” on its face
Every morning he says, “You’re prettier when you smile”
I flip the mug over and leave it on my desk
Hidden on the bottom are the words, “Fuck You”
If he misses me, he can drink out of my cup of strength
I tally up the scorecard and there is a negative balance
Years of apologies written in red ink not recoverable
I’ll take the loss and leave for my vagina is not for sale
Author Bio:
Yong Takahashi won the Chattahoochee Valley Writers National Short Story Contest and the Writer's Digest's Write It Your Way Contest. She was a finalist in The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing, Southern Fried Karma Novel Contest, Gemini Magazine Short Story Contest, and Georgia Writers Association Flash Fiction Contest. Some of her works appear in Cactus Heart, Crab Fat Magazine, Flash Fiction Magazine, Gemini Magazine, Meat For Tea, and Twisted Vines.
To read some of Yong’s stories, please visit: www.yctwriter.com.
As I try to put a price on the dignity
My boss has slowly chipped away
Embarrassment and degradation remain
Longing looks $75
Licking of lips $130
Grazing backsides $100
Peering down blouses $50
Massaging shoulders $60
Fingers trickling down arms $30
Promotion dependent on traveling with him $250
He says he wants to taste my sweet cake $#!#!#!
Slowly, I take home one item at a time
Until there is no trace of me in the office
I will leave for lunch and not come back
The ID badge will forever hang from my rearview mirror
So I will always remember treasures I wouldn’t give up
My coffee cups says “Good Morning” on its face
Every morning he says, “You’re prettier when you smile”
I flip the mug over and leave it on my desk
Hidden on the bottom are the words, “Fuck You”
If he misses me, he can drink out of my cup of strength
I tally up the scorecard and there is a negative balance
Years of apologies written in red ink not recoverable
I’ll take the loss and leave for my vagina is not for sale
Author Bio:
Yong Takahashi won the Chattahoochee Valley Writers National Short Story Contest and the Writer's Digest's Write It Your Way Contest. She was a finalist in The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing, Southern Fried Karma Novel Contest, Gemini Magazine Short Story Contest, and Georgia Writers Association Flash Fiction Contest. Some of her works appear in Cactus Heart, Crab Fat Magazine, Flash Fiction Magazine, Gemini Magazine, Meat For Tea, and Twisted Vines.
To read some of Yong’s stories, please visit: www.yctwriter.com.
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