a nightmare before
christmas
jaws kept walking around
the front of the store
he said, you missed a spot…there
….and….there
then i’d have to bring the mop back from the stockroom
and do the whole section over again
jaw said, don’t look so angry
there are tons of kids who’d like your job
he sipped his coffee
jaws drank coffee all-day
talked close with his coffee breath
he said, besides we’re paying you for this
and with the holidays coming
i have money in the budget for over-time
you want over-time dontcha?
when i didn’t nod or answer
he leaned over the counter and said
that section could use a good mopping
…and….that section back there
which he couldn’t even see from where he was
so that was the night
that was halloween
me mopping and sweeping for some asshole
after chasing costumed thugs around the store
giving candy to crying brats
and having a fleet of scantily clad girls saunter by
in cat suits and maid uniforms
to look around while jaws harangued me
for the way that i looked
pull up your pants
shave your face
cut your hair
his haiku of complaint chasing the chicks
who wouldn’t even take a snickers from my hands
and outside in the world my friends were somewhere
with girls they’d met in the food court
waiting for me to get out of this hell
do you think the jerseys need to be steamed? jaws asked
while i continued silently swabbing the deck
he looked at his watch
should i have you steam them or not?
then he stared off into the distance
of a lane bryant across the mall
as if contemplating some great philosophy
to steam or not to steam?
that was the question
but good old jaws kept me like he always did
a good ten minutes after my shift
but not enough to pay me for it
and as i walked out of the store and into the mall
men who had it worse than i
were taking down the halloween decorations
and were putting up the christmas ones
for a moment
it was a sea of orange and black
and red and green and white
a spectacle of commerce so ugly i couldn’t find the words
but just went out to the car
disgusted with everything
deep down inside of me knowing that jaws
would be the first of dozens of bad bosses to come
i had a cigarette
and thought about the friends that i wasn’t going to meet
and those pictures of jaws’ wife in a bikini
the ones he had posted in his locker from their trip to
aruba
while three kids dressed as devils
kept pulling on the cat lady’s tail
as she screamed
stop!
stop!
while the maid hit them with her candy basket
and the month of october died again
like it always did for me
with a bit of sadness and regret
making its way for the yuletide
eventual thanksgivings and christmases
black friday america
full of a bunch of bloated, spirited pricks
in santa hats
ready to kill each other
over a premium parking space
and a dollar off
some ugly sweater
made for them with love
from the good folks
in bangladesh and china
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