poem of the day 03.23.15

sexual harassment

trina used to blow all of the janitors

it was well known amongst them

that if you were hard-up

five minutes in a basement men’s room stall with trina

could cure all of your ills

she wasn’t anything to look at

most people aren’t

she didn’t dress the part of the organizational tramp

but trina was willing in a way that others weren’t

she and i used to smoke together

on a big orange bench when we didn’t feel like working

trina talked about her douche bag husband and their bills

as we sucked away breaks sharing my camel lights

from time to time

trina would tell me….you know…if you need a little

i was a clerk

and i think trina thought this meant moving up in the world

because i didn’t wear a uniform

even though the janitors made double what i did

from time to time i’d think about taking her up on her offer

every night i went home alone

i’d been going home alone for almost two years

i wasn’t much to look at either

i didn’t really see the harm in a little men’s room action

but then trina got weird on me

everywhere i went in the building she seemed to be

she found me on lunches and always seemed to be at that orange bench

once she attacked me on the elevator

and tried to bite my neck

when i worked nights it became a given that trina would call

she told me once how good she’d suck my cock

she said if i didn’t believe her, go and ask one of the janitors

i didn’t know what to do

i went and told my boss

who laughed at me when she found out it was trina

my boss had been noted for her blow jobs back in the day

and had a notorious hateful streak for her rivals

she said, what you need to do is write everything down

every word trina says to you

so we can build a sexual harassment case, my boss said

then she laughed again and went to the orange bench

to smoke half a pack of virginia slims

well, i didn’t write down anything and i didn’t say anything else

it seemed pointless and unmanly

i just avoided the orange bench

and started smoking my cigarettes in front of the building

where the homeless guys stood in packs

and bothered the college kids for change

at times they shared my camel lights too

but it got back to trina anyway that i’d squealed

when we passed each other we kept our heads down

except one time she was on her way

to the men’s room with a janitor

when she saw me she whispered something in his ear

and they both laughed

then they dipped into the men’s room like a couple of spies

and i went out to the orange bench

for my first smoke of the afternoon

knowing that i had

at least five minutes of peace.