*
It’s putting our selfhood aside for the sake
of the customers’ right to be wrong
Indentured service to
neo-feudal lords
Too broke for excitement?
It pays to be bored
We tick to their clocks
we dance to their tune
They say ‘jump’ and we
shuffle so high
Boss makes a dollar,
and you and me? Well,
after taxes,
I figure we’ll see
*
And then it’s the far side
of the crawling rush
The key in the door,
our smells in the walls
The shucking of clothing code compliant,
the shimmying into our not-quite-pajamas
The sounds or the silence
that our ears have craved
The sprawl of us
over the space ours to claim
The words to be shared
in unmixed company
The night stretched as long as we dare
*
It’s labor for The Market’s benefit
(At least this gig comes with full benefits)
The spending of our finest resource
(time)
in exchange for pretend paper
wired to the bank
These are not your friends,
but Company Family
sans real companionship
or chosen blood bonds
Talk of the weather and
/that/ supervisor
That look ‘cross the floor
is all that you share
*
And then it’s the one
who will dream alongside you
A lazy morning with no rush until tea
Last time, ‘twas the shore
Shall we now to the forest?
Or shopping (eyes only)
or buying (we’ve earned it)
A book ‘neath the sun
and the moon in the blue
A moment of nothing
but wind in the green
You show me a joke
and I tell you a story
Tomorrow, let’s do it all over
*
It’s do what we must so as
to make a living
And then it’s the living
we do in between
It’s full- or part-time waking hours
asleep
And then, love,
It’s back to the real world
*
– “A Living, A Life” by Deshipley
Ever On Word 