PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

It never occurred to me

It might be

a bloody struggle

to land a job

during a crisis

of a labor shortage

I find myself

still on the outside

of that internal mainstream

that seems to have

an easy time of it

maintaining a better credit rating

than I ever could

I ain’t that blessed

I get told

I’m overqualified

or reading Mark Twain

means I don’t need to eat

some places don’t believe

I would want the job

They know better than anyone

they’re offering a shit job

and you get so

you wouldn’t even care

if it were a shit job

just so long as it entails

you earning a paycheck

to feed that jones

and my sloppy look

disguised my discerning brightness

that makes me less worthy

than the derelict

just learning to read and write

and my attitude

 might stink

and I just might not

have a single clue

to what’s going on

but I learn the lines

as they always promise to call

but it makes me feel so small

as each step forward

is betrayed by one step backward

“What are your career objectives?”

“What’s your desired salary?”

and I know they really

don’t want an answer to the second one

I think we all know

that one deep down inside

“Are you going to school?”

“Why didn’t you go to school?”

I intend to

as soon as I’m back working

and earning some bread

my needs

are rather spartan

and I have been

compared to a mule

as I carry a heavy load

with nary a complaint

from trusted comrades

so I take a train

or a bus

I wear holes in my shoes

and torment them no end

it seems to be

about all that is left

12/24/99