I
arrive at work each day,
parking
my car each day,
thinking
my way through
what
it is I have to do,
when
I arrive at work each day.
I
turn the computer on each day,
opening
the new email each day,
auto-deleting
the spam
erasing
flim-flam,
when
I turn the computer on each day.
And
then it’s crisis, issue, attack,
forward
this, respond to that,
attend
meetings that multiply
like
rabbits, solve a problem,
solve
a colleague’s problem,
grit
my teeth with the colleague
who
is the problem, dissuade
second-guessers,
write, attend
another
meeting, write more,
tweet
three trade press links and
respond
to follow requests, exchange
DMs
with a reporter, sit
in
a presentation, scarf down lunch
while
posting to Facebook, take
two
phone calls and let three go
to
voice-mail (delaying the inevitable),
write
more, post to the corporate blog,
discuss
two issues with two people, get
a
surprise visit from an old colleague,
write
and draft plans and plan out
tomorrow
and it’s 5 p.m.
I
turn the computer off each day,
I
walk to the parking lot each day,
I
think how much of tomorrow
did
today I borrow,
And
I drive away from work each day.
This
poem is submitted for the Poetics prompt of “Play It Again, Sam: Repetititon in
Poetry” at dVerse
Poets. To see more poems submitted, please visit
the site.
Photograph: Architectural Background by
Vera Kratochvil via Public
Domain Pictures. Used with permission.
17 comments:
You definitely gave a good picture of what you do 'each day.' So much of work is repetitious, isn't it? But hopefully there are also some things that are fresh.
haha - enjoyed this glynn...somehow this all sounds very familiar...smiles
esp. loved this part
solve a problem,
solve a colleague’s problem,
grit my teeth with the colleague
who is the problem...very cool write
The life and times of the symbolic worker -- how has all of been parenthesized by turning a computer on and off?
the repetitive style of your verse shows how repetitive your day is.
Nice changeup in the hectic middle, flurry of jumbled activity that its amazing we get paid for, considering how little of it produces anything, bookended by the repetitious drone of the endless cycle beginning and ending. Great response to the prompt, and a thoughtful piece, Glynn--how much of tomorrow are we borrowing every day?
Very true to life, I just got off of work and I need a break after reading your day. That was very GOOD
And then it’s crisis, issue, attack,
forward this, respond to that,
attend meetings that multiply
like rabbits, solve a problem,
solve a colleague’s problem,
grit my teeth with the colleague
who is the problem, dissuade
second-guessers,
The former corporate risk manager in me loved this (my variation was only slightly different as we didn't have internet (which makes me at 37 sound hopelessly behind the times but this was in the 90s!) Great poem.
I know the feeling well - fabulous writing
You just reminded me of my typical work day..ha..ha... I enjoyed the "each day" lines... going through the motions, very detailed duties here.
I want to forget this after exiting your blog though.. its a weekend and I want to prolong it ~
Happy day ~
You are hitting a nerve with that description of work... whew!
thank God for a creative community like this to express, write, learn, enjoy and blow off some of that steam.
it went from a waltz of going to work and starting...and then the busy hustle...then back to the waltz of leaving.
i love it!
This poem makes me appreciate being laid off a couple of years ago and having to take a series of contract jobs. The jobs I've found have been tightly focused on specific tasks and they don't depend on maintaining relations with several managers who can positively or negatively affect my career. I'm feeling pretty good this weekend because a contract that I like has just been extended. It could have gone the other way, but at least working this way, I know what I have to do. It is quite unlike the career I was managing when I worked full time for one big company with layers of hierarchy to satisfy, all of them competing to be more important that the others.
true to life...everyday melts into another..very nice!
This is a great account of your life each day and how it repeats and you really captured the prompt so well I enjoyed reading this thank you
http://gatelesspassage.com/2011/09/24/loneliness-the-anger-of-lost-hope/
Oh I want to write like this.
haha your repitition accentuates the monotony of the whole thing...so you know my co worker eh? haha
I enjoyed reading this...I had to catch my breath when I was done! :) "How much of tomorrow did today I borrow" -great thought provoking lines
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