In Lieu of a Life
Your ennui is admirable, emanating
From the closet they call your office
A hotbox of B.O. and your gastric problems
No wonder they let you smoke in there
Still the innocent wander in, idealistic
And you look past the wide eyes to a dark place
Somehow everyone's future reflects your life
Your dreams look much like my beloved roadkill.
Did you know I met your children?
A girl I encountered, first in alt.fan.exsanguinationandvivisection
Invited me to her school--there they were
Like their mother, divorced from you.
I've seen their pictures on your desk
Back before they despised you, I suspect
Now I've seen them in their new environs
The apple lives its destiny--falling close to the tree.
Your daughter--beloved by too many of the football team
Well, "beloved" is too kind a word, I suppose
And your son--those eyes frighten even me.
Do you know what lies in your future?
Did you know why they pulled you off real counselling?
The written request from the suicide hotline...
Do you realize they all know about the bottles
In that filing cabinet?
It clouds your judgement--you were too loud
Asking out that old secretary--10 years your senior at least
Stuck home alone with her cats
Yet she shot you down.
Be thankful the yearbook teacher cares enough
To delete the epistles written annually
By grads who mock your closet of pathos.
When your broken smoker's heart finally stops
I'll stuff you and mount you in your little office.
Gratis.
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