poem of the day 10.31.14

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