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mars Feb 2020
I got this job because I was seventeen
Available everyday at three
In debt with a man after I went clean
My boss at the time was thirty six with a goatee
Five dollars an hour plus tip, you see
It was fine for me.

I met the others standing by the kitchen line
All of them with the same look in their eye
Lying to family and friends saying, financially, their fine
Getting nothing on a tip and never knowing why
Yet they return the next day to serve white wine

Looking around I see all of us wanted more
But I’m in debt and you have to pay the rent
Do it all in one day and go home to a son that’s four
Under the thumb of an old vice president

The roof over the kitchen is about to cave in
And we watch with silent eyes
Because our uniforms are being held with safety pins
Promised new ones but Corporate lies

And when the bubble in the ceiling pops
We’ll be by the dumpsters flicking cigarettes on the road
While the greedy pigs come in drawing lots
Waiting for the gas stove to explode

Paid vacation sounds lovely
Been here every week for the past year
Sometimes I’m called to  come in early
Pick up the broken glass from lunch rush beer

The people come in
Angry as they usually are
Now the glares don’t even touch my skin
It makes me laugh how many nasty people sit at the bar
The high-class families who come in for din

It’s been eight hours and six years
Since we started our shift
Staying here for three more is the biggest fear
But we’re already ******
We’ve been here for long we know this career

What else am I supposed to know
Other than how to make dough

It’s been a long night
You can see it in the height
Of cigarette buts by the dumpster
Where we can freely talk about the customer

It’s a busy life
Feels like we’re running out of time
To get out and ignore the strife
But there are times when the tips make us feel sublime

And we can buy a warm meal
Cause maybe it will heal
These aching muscles
That come from a constant hustle

Don’t you see why they say
At the end of the day
We need an ashtray.
Greg Muller Feb 2020
Forty tears were pooled in his eyes.

A reality of hardship sunk in
Capsizing a boat of fears.

his parents had left him a penniless bloke
his time would be spent trying to stay afloat

The daily news would house all the jahbs
the other families &  friends were pointing him away from trouble

He would meet a new boss.
A stomach never tiring of crisscrosses

When he sat -down inspection began
Was he trusted to be a stan
Finally accepted he began forging minerals

The door closed at the home.
The company issued tools.
Heavy iron forged together with mighty wood.

Clear yellow lights illuminated the mine’s dark

A new spot would be all to him.
He began picking and digging
The earth's rocks, and dirt.

Learning other names was to be his strong suit.
But ability and strength left him with cahoots.

Soon heart's pumped laughs
Sending echo’s down the earth mine's shaft

Curing the ailed eyes
Of a boy with no ties
I could of done
Whatever I want
Hell I even could of
Became an astronaut

I could of been a mechanic
I could of been an engineer
I could of been what i wanted
But I'm stuck here

I could of built robots
Or create new signs
But I chose to live my life
Getting high

I could of been a scientist
I could of been a priest
Maybe I’d be happier
If I wasn't me

Now I sit all alone
Wallowing
In my own
Scene
Rich Oct 2019
The government’s up early in the morning
hours before my dreams said their last words
~~I wiped off the cosmos from my consciousness~~
our leaders are up, digging for mechanical gold
that sweet fuel for the machines and their automated wealth
today, their shovels disrupt Alaskan wildlife refuges
tomorrow, your backyard
but I’m waking up way later, following the sunrise as an unemployed, unashamed, unresolved and un-unified whole, unpredictable, unfitting man with a wallet
full of poems
packed tighter than an Earth with twice our population
yet still writing
without hesitation
still drifting in and out of your perception
in and out of adjacent trains
stumbling over career paths
until I land on my face and look up
wiping the gravel off hazy eyelids to see the road
and then footsteps become moments
which become monuments upon which I build a future unseen
one day,
we will all be free.
Shiv Pratap Pal May 2019
Where we should Go?
We have absolutely no idea
Please show us the path
Show us our fate or destiny

Wherever we visit, wherever we Go
They ask Money, They Demand Money
Somewhere they ask for tickets
Unfortunately Tickets are sold for money

Please provide us Jobs
Then we will also have some money
Then we will also pay
But until then don’t ask money from us
What is there in the world if one has no money?
Megan H Feb 2019
I looked at the world around me,
I could see the future clearly,
So perfectly laid out.
I would be successful,
I wouldn't be alone.

I knew I had to jump,
Had to fall.
So I picked the deepest ocean I could find,
And I dove in
Thinking it would be easy to swim back up.

When I hit the rock bottom,
The last thing I saw-
Millions of people just like me,
Drowning and clawing towards the sky
For just one more feeling of life.

And even though we were together,
I had never felt more alone.
Big Virge Jan 2019
Redundancy is ...
A ... Horrible  Thing ... !!!

But ...
Who are the ones ... ?
That Most ... FEEL THE STING ... ?!?

THOSE Who .... CONTROL ....
The Employment ... " Bullring " ... ?!?

Or THOSE Who Sit ... " Waiting " ....
With ....

NO BELL to RING .... !!!

For Whom Does The Bell ...
REALLY ... Toll ... ?

Give Me a ... " Drum Roll " ...
Before i'm ... REDUNDANT ...
and left in ... THE COLD ... !!!!!!

The Unions are ... DEAD ...
So Employers Now Get ...
to do ... WHAT THEY LIKE ... !!!
cos' ... Most youth are BRAINDEAD ... !!!

They Always ... ACT BOLD ...
But Do ... What They're ... TOLD ... !!!

Ask them about ... " Business " ...
Not ONE ... seems to know ... !?!
what happens to ... THEM ...
When Companies ... "FOLD" ... !!!

They QUICKLY Get ... KNOCKED ...
When The Ship Starts to ... " ROCK " ... !!!

But STILL .... Cannot see ....
How Corporates ... "PLOT" ...
To REMOVE .... Who they want ... !!!

Because THINKERS ... Will Question ...
The LOT that they've ... GOT ... ?!

While ... " Corporate Heads " ...
are Constantly ... DRIVEN ...

Agendas they have ...
Are Suitably ... "hidden" ...

You're told ...

"NOT TO QUESTION !" ...

That Act is ... FORBIDDEN ... !!!!

But Lives That ... They Lead  ...
Most People ... "AIN'T LIVIN " ... !!!!

I'm NOT .... " David Niven " ... !!!
but i'd like to play ... " BOND " ... !!!

So that I could ... " QUICKLY " ...
Put RIGHT ... All These WRONGS ... !!!

The WRONGNESS ... They do ...
" is hidden" ...................................................... from view ... !!!!

Meantime they sit ... "Planning" ...
and Constantly .... SCAMMING .... !!!
Which ... " CASH-DRIVEN YOUTH " ...
Should now join ... " Their Crew " ...

They look for a ... " FOOL" ...
Who REALLY ... AIN'T Cool ... !!!

To Push You ... Then STICK YOU ...
As if you're just ... " Glue " ...
That they can just ... STAMP ON ...
Until You Feel ... " BLUE " ... !!!

They walk in ... " NEW SHOES " ...
While yours are now due ...
For ... " Mending and Bending " ...
from ... " Cobblers Tools " ... !!!

Like FISH ...
We are ...  " Schooled " ...
Then thrown into ... " POOLS " ...
For ... Redundancy Marks ...
While surrounded by ... " SHARKS " ...
Who Have ... " Their Own Space " ...
In the ... " Office Car Park " ... !!!

My words may seem ... DARK ...
But This Is ...  NO LARK ... !!!

Redundancy's ... groWING ...
The REALITY'S .... " STARK " .... !!!

I'm ... " NOBODY'S DOG " ... !!!
But ... WATCH OUT For My BARK ... !!!!!

The Angels Now ... " HERALD " ...
and Sing to my ... HARK ... !!!

HARK ...
As in ... " CALL " ...

My stories ... AREN'T TALL ..... !!!
But I AM .... Of Course ... !!!

If You're NEEDING ... " MORE CLUES " ...
Try ... " Inspector Morse " ... !!!

Now ...
Those who won't hear me ...
Are on the ... " DOWNFALL " ... !!!

Like NIAGRA ....
They ... " FALL " ... !!!
with their backs to .... THE WALL ...

and Now ... CAN'T Afford ...
The Price of ... " The Stalls " ... !!!

Redundancy Payments ...
REALLY ... DON'T Last ...
UNLESS ... You were one ...
Of The ... "Corporate Class " ... !!!

But ... EVEN They Suffer ...
These words are now ... TRUE ... !!!

When They're ... Out of Work ...
TRUST ME ... They DON'T SHIRK ... !!!

They KNOW ... ALL ABOUT ...
The ... " BENEFIT ROUTE " ...
and then get ... The Council ...
to PAY FOR ... " Their House " ...  !!! ? !!!

But ...
NOT JUST ... " Your Average " ... !!!

They Think That's for ... SAVAGE ... !!!
The rental they're paying ...
Brings Taxpayers ... DAMAGE ... !!!!
because ... " BENEFIT FUNDS " ....

When for ... THEM ....
Just get ... " RAVAGED " ... !!!!!

This is ... " The Coup " ...
When Redundancy ... comes ...

But THIS is ... A Story ...
to give you ... Some Fun ...

I've just been ... " In The MIX " ...
of Redundancy ... TRICKS ... !!!

But ...
HERE'S How it went ...

SO .....
Follow This Script ... !!!

"We need volunteers !
New systems demand,
that certain positions
will now disappear !"

But when ... Volunteers Came ...
They Came ... " LIKE THE RAIN" ... !!!!!
and that put ... AN END ...
to ... " REDUNDANCY GAMES " ... !!!!!!

"We've had a rethink,
and don't need to shrink,
cos people have moved,
so everything's cool" ....

But ...
Here is ... " THE TWIST " ... !?!

My job is ... SECURE ... !!!
At LEAST ... for a year ...

But ...
Check THIS BIT HERE ... !!!

"Your role's been appraised"

and ....

to ... MY SURPRISE ...
From ... NOT Being needed ...

I got a .... PAY RISE ... ???? !!! ????

So Now You See ... WHY ...
A Brother like ... " I " ...
Will NEVER .... Put Trust ...
In THESE ... Corporate Guys ... !!!

Never Mind Their .... FORK TONGUES ....
What about their ... " SNAKE EYES " .... !???!

This thing is becoming ...
A ... Constant WORRY ....
for those of us ... Working ...

" REDUNDANCY ! " ...
It's Definitely A PROBLEM !
Oskar Roux Dec 2018
The idea of a perfect plan for life is one that’s floored in every material in every way.
It begins much like a seed.
In good soil with good intentions and seemingly the right influence.
Sun for photosynthesis, nutrients to supply the food for growth and water.
Enough water to rehydrate invigorate but also it can drown.
The water you see isn’t merely water it’s the plausibility and possibility
we strive for and see in our faces every day.
“Be who you want to be”,
“the sky is the limit”
“the only thing holding you back is your imagination”.
But what if that isn’t it.
What if being who we want to be gets put down,
changed and made to be realistic.
Like a child following the instructions on their Lego instructions:
they put M8 on T3 and piece that together
with pieces 5, 6, 7 & 8 etc.
until their puzzle is complete.
Complete to resemble the same thing that the other kids build,
or the same one that their parents before them built.
Built to last, built to fit, built to be…
NORMAL.
No one is told to believe
That they should believe in their writing and encouraged to chase a dream.
Instead they’re told to choose a “real” dream.
One that benefits society.
One that asks no questions, changes no formats or builds and pushes no borders.
Enzo Dec 2018
Jobs that pay and jobs that don't
A passion to work in spaces of uninterest
A yesterday that's the same as tomorrow
A beginning carried over and copy pasted until the end
Stressing over the same thing for days on end
Working 9 to 5 in a pencil pushing company
Trapped in an endless cycle of routine and bore
Find me chaos, find me adventure
Take me out Dear Pathfinder in search of true passion and fun
I found my way then but it wasn't what I wanted
So take me away and make me lost for me to find myself again
If I ever land on a boring job I'll lose myself to find passion again
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