yet another work poem...
Four days unshaven
Uncollared shirt
Unchecked cigarette breaks taken every 47 minutes on the dot
Didn't get here til damn near ten o'clock
But I do a good job
Or at least act like I am
Because at this 9-5 I'm aware that the man
Is not watching me
Shit last I heard he's on a bi-annual paid leave
So not only through my work do I absolutely refuse to bust ass and hurry
But there's a damn good chance this man's leaving early
Because this job sucks
And more than just what's left of air particles in a vacuum
Coworkers lack of sleep got them carrying bags under their eyes looking like raccoons
This is a trap dude
But not like ten dollars for a sac trap
But ten year commemorative gold watch and meager 401k for every bit of skin off your back trap
Helping this surrogate employer of temporary job status expendables make ends before your family needs or wage expectations even enter the equation
I mean this shit's amazing
To watch people come into the office smiling in the early am
Drones with even less than lowered expectations
Just glad to be getting paid when
They go about their days praying
That when the big man finally shuts down our American offices
Their losses will hopefully not be too much where they can't put food on their baby's plates again
That is until the much needed call from the agency about possible "career placement"
Just lock up your hope in the basement and lose the key
Ain't a goddamn thing gonna change for you or me
Because our vied for position in this company is at very best temporary
One year into a six-month only guaranteed contract got my ass squeezing together so tight I whistle while I work
And my French boss is a jerk
Calling me up for 830 am teleconferences to ask how my progress is
on work objectives as spoken of in our last phone meeting
Slowly, mother fucker, and it doesn't look to be increasing
Myspace surveys, livejournal blog entries and my being far more concerned with writing fresh poetry than your needs being three primary reasons
Why don't you check back for an update when full-time hired employment and benefits packages are in season
Or perhaps when you can supply me with ample training and documentation regarding my current position's expectancies
Do you even know how to do the job you expect of me
Doubtful
I overheard your mouthful of questions just after you threatened my tenure of employment here
Know even less than I do about what I do and yet you still insist on changing what I do every few months
Mother fucker pick a position for me to be in and let me stay there just once
Corporate workers of America it's now time to stand up
These companies thrive off our sweat and our blood
Glean joy from our toil as profits inflate
And these crumbs that we're scraping keep sliding off plates
And slipping between cracks in glass ceilings
This cannot be appealing
To work with no meaning and not even be feeling
That global merger you worked for
Just working class poor
Just surviving
Nothing more to be said of it, we're just barely surviving
all silently biding our time in this grind til survival gets cheaper
or wage increases get steeper
or benefits easier to acquire
like lemmings on fire we run to the pyre of dashed hopes that aspired
to make you make something of yourself
this is lower to upper middle class American hell
don't get lost in the belts of machines that consume you
cubicles lined up in a sequence to seem like there tombs
this is the most lively cemetery I've ever placed shoe in
overtime bonus pay leading to execution
of souls that could've been more but they're used to complacency
so this is the place we be
uncollared, unshaven, unkempt
rapidly writing lines of poetry to vent
and after this last 47 minutes I've spent has been personally productive
maybe I shouldn't break for another cigarette...
ah, fuck it
Poetry by David W Durney
Read 591 times
Written on 2007-08-07 at 15:18
Save as a bookmark (requires login)
Write a comment (requires login)
Send as email (requires login)
Print text
whistle while i work
I'm that guy in the officeFour days unshaven
Uncollared shirt
Unchecked cigarette breaks taken every 47 minutes on the dot
Didn't get here til damn near ten o'clock
But I do a good job
Or at least act like I am
Because at this 9-5 I'm aware that the man
Is not watching me
Shit last I heard he's on a bi-annual paid leave
So not only through my work do I absolutely refuse to bust ass and hurry
But there's a damn good chance this man's leaving early
Because this job sucks
And more than just what's left of air particles in a vacuum
Coworkers lack of sleep got them carrying bags under their eyes looking like raccoons
This is a trap dude
But not like ten dollars for a sac trap
But ten year commemorative gold watch and meager 401k for every bit of skin off your back trap
Helping this surrogate employer of temporary job status expendables make ends before your family needs or wage expectations even enter the equation
I mean this shit's amazing
To watch people come into the office smiling in the early am
Drones with even less than lowered expectations
Just glad to be getting paid when
They go about their days praying
That when the big man finally shuts down our American offices
Their losses will hopefully not be too much where they can't put food on their baby's plates again
That is until the much needed call from the agency about possible "career placement"
Just lock up your hope in the basement and lose the key
Ain't a goddamn thing gonna change for you or me
Because our vied for position in this company is at very best temporary
One year into a six-month only guaranteed contract got my ass squeezing together so tight I whistle while I work
And my French boss is a jerk
Calling me up for 830 am teleconferences to ask how my progress is
on work objectives as spoken of in our last phone meeting
Slowly, mother fucker, and it doesn't look to be increasing
Myspace surveys, livejournal blog entries and my being far more concerned with writing fresh poetry than your needs being three primary reasons
Why don't you check back for an update when full-time hired employment and benefits packages are in season
Or perhaps when you can supply me with ample training and documentation regarding my current position's expectancies
Do you even know how to do the job you expect of me
Doubtful
I overheard your mouthful of questions just after you threatened my tenure of employment here
Know even less than I do about what I do and yet you still insist on changing what I do every few months
Mother fucker pick a position for me to be in and let me stay there just once
Corporate workers of America it's now time to stand up
These companies thrive off our sweat and our blood
Glean joy from our toil as profits inflate
And these crumbs that we're scraping keep sliding off plates
And slipping between cracks in glass ceilings
This cannot be appealing
To work with no meaning and not even be feeling
That global merger you worked for
Just working class poor
Just surviving
Nothing more to be said of it, we're just barely surviving
all silently biding our time in this grind til survival gets cheaper
or wage increases get steeper
or benefits easier to acquire
like lemmings on fire we run to the pyre of dashed hopes that aspired
to make you make something of yourself
this is lower to upper middle class American hell
don't get lost in the belts of machines that consume you
cubicles lined up in a sequence to seem like there tombs
this is the most lively cemetery I've ever placed shoe in
overtime bonus pay leading to execution
of souls that could've been more but they're used to complacency
so this is the place we be
uncollared, unshaven, unkempt
rapidly writing lines of poetry to vent
and after this last 47 minutes I've spent has been personally productive
maybe I shouldn't break for another cigarette...
ah, fuck it
Poetry by David W Durney
Read 591 times
Written on 2007-08-07 at 15:18
Save as a bookmark (requires login) Write a comment (requires login) Send as email (requires login) Print text
