Bad Day

(Plain Text Version, scroll down for concrete version)

I.

Cars stopping. Cars honking. Cars whose drivers
are texting. Drivers yakking on cellphones.
Drivers rubbernecking. Damn those drivers
creeping past police cars. Police by cones
waiting, why aren’t they nabbing those drivers?

Traffic breaking. Open pavement calling.
Just ahead there’s room to move. Damn drivers
why’re you braking? No reason for stopping.
Why’re you not speeding? Hit the gas! Drivers–
I hate them all. Find your gas pedal, drive
now. Time’s ticking. Time’s wasting. I hate drivers.
No time to stop for coffee. Must arrive.
Get in before my boss sees my empty
chair. He taps his rolex, but I’m home free.

II.

Workday begins. Phone rings. Complaints flow in.
It’s only nine. Slumped down in my chair, I
listen to the screaming and threats weave in
It’s only nine. Can’t get a word in. I–
The phone slams down, the connection broken,
her parting words linger like fell tokens
of a cold malice. What an icy witch
No respect. Little does that evil bitch
suspect…The gauntlet is cast…the die tossed
and it lands on snake eyes that wink, that dreads.
it’s only nine and I’ve been double crossed.
The chill pervades the office as fear spreads
Workday has barely begun when, I draw
my sword, throw off my disguise, start to saw…

III.

I slice through flimsy reality, peel
back its edges. Cubicles fall away
desk chairs collapse into dust and you reel.
I rise, sword upraised to the sun. You say
this cant be real. But it is. So I rise.
I cut away the lies that you cling to.
I rise and on my brow a new world rises,
one I fashioned from dreams and brought into
being. I rise and you fall. You’re queen Bark
no more. I rise, strip away the vestiges
of your world ’till all that’s left is a spark
One tiny flame I blow out, extinguish,
leaving not a shred of your corporate
existence. I rise, toss it out like freight.

—-

Yeah I had a bad day. I feel better now. Let’s hope tomorrow is better. World-ending anger is not healthy for a nine-to-fiver.