Maggie's Hands

• Emily Dempster, Grade 8
• Poetry
• 2009

The young maiden looked at her hands and sighed:
They were rough, they were marked, they were red;
They were maps of hard work, the poor girl thought
And she allowed them to cradle her head.

When she went for a walk that very same day,
What was her fate but to meet
The richest girl in town, dressed in silk
And with dainty silk slippers on her feet.

Let me tell you the difference between these two girls-
It was their hands, now let me explain:
While Maggie's were marked, red and rough,
Lillie's were white and unstained.

Maggie went home feeling better that day;
She smiled at her hands rough and red,
For she had discovered that they were a treasure,
For they meant she'd worked hard for her bread.