I Will Not Cry at Work Today by Ted Jackins

I Will Not Cry at Work Today

I will not cry
At work today
As if I am paid
By the tear,
My mind a warped
Vibration
Like a radio
Stuck on static.
No,
I will not cry
At work today,
I’ll look every
Asshole customer
In the eye,
Take my smoke breaks
In stride,
Stock every shelf,
Cross my heart
And hope to die.
I will listen
To Nina Simone,
T. Rex and Husker Du,
And when I can
Finally lock the door
And turn out
The lights,
I will heave a sigh
Of relief with
Every trigger
Out of mind
And out of sight.
I will not cry
At work today
Until the paperwork
Is filed and the money’s
In the safe,
And I can create
A little space
For my fragile
Mind to run wild.

Ted Jackins vanished along with the rest of his platoon somewhere in Hanoi in 1968. Rumors that he was actually born in 1982 and is alive and well living with his wife and multiple cats in a small town in North Carolina have yet to be confirmed. His work has appeared in Red Fez, Zygote In My Coffee, Blotterature, Citizens For Decent Literature and on the compilation They Came To Destroy the Carolinas Volume 2 from Dead Wax Records.

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