You Call That A Living?

I guess I'm alive and living

The alarm clock wakes sleep into reality
Good night, sweet dreams
Good morning, misery
Drops from the shower can't wash away the feeling of another lost weekend
S**t
Piss
Force feed spoonfuls of a tasteless breakfast for an appetite that feels fed up
Halfheartedly throw some clothes on
Fight traffic to get somewhere you don't want to be
And clock-in three minutes late

It's time to make a living

Greet the customers that you dread to see
Wish them to have a good day when you couldn't care less
Watch the clock as you think of everywhere else you'd rather be
At the bar with friends, laughing as the beer flows
Soaking in the sunshine outside of the walls that trap you for eight hours a day
Or laying in the bed that doesn't see you enough
Those are all a distant memory when your break is over
Back to work as you take orders from a boss who you don't respect
Make him money as you pays you like dirt
Be told you're lucky to be working there
As the paycheck laughs in your face

Then there's the bills
Those f*****g bills
They never leave you lonely
Always there to say hello
They limit the lifestyle you live
They take away good times you can't afford
And they never f*****g leave
Those unwanted guests that you can't live without
There goes the lights, along with the power
God damn it, national grid

You trade a night out for enough sleep so you can open for work
You work the job you never wanted to be at
To pay the bills you barely scrape by to afford
To live a life you said you'd rather die than grow up to be

You call that a living?


 

Reviews

[Sam]

Wow! This poem perfectly depicts how I’ve been feeling lately! I work in customer service for a fast food chain. I have off tomorrow and I cannot wait to sleep in. When you said “You trade a night out for enough sleep so you can open for work” I related deeply to this. I often tell my friends no when they want to hang out at night as I am too tired and have to wake up early for work the next day. Greatly written poem! Keep up the great work!

[Timothy Ryan]

Crazy how long ago this was as I read it over again now. The feeling remains, though. Thank you for taking the time to check it out.

[Patricia]

Oh my! That is spot on for every low to middle class household and it’s unfortunate for us all. Losing sleep to everything you wrote is the part that breaks us along with the bills that we throw up in the air and the one that lands on the table gets paid. This was well written. I would like to comment on your stories but I’m not qualified, poetry is my thing and this is good

[duff]

Inside walls you have to dwell in to pay the bills and to survive. That pseudo smile breaking at noon but you have to keep pushing. I really like this.

[Courtney Hough]

Since this quarantine I’ve felt more alive. I cannot believe how much we have to work to get by. Only to possibly retire and be too old to actually live those short years. Struck a cord. This is a fabulous write.

[Beccy]

I wrote a poem recently called 'commuting.' Your approach and language is entirely different to mine, but the message is unmistakeably the same.

A very powerful write, with a title that highlights the futility of it all with force of Thor's Hammer.

Beccy.

[Saoirse K.]

soul crushingly relatable
stark and direct
i feel it
like the first words out of my mouth most mornings
"jesus f**k"
good piece

[Timothy Ryan]

"Jesus f**k" that's what I should've called it haha. Thank you for taking the time to read it.

[Emily L]

I love how so many people deep down can relate to this poem but never express so straight forward as you do. This poem made me reflect on my own life, so thank you for that. Really nice work!

[Tate Morgan]

The truth is we dont always grow up to be the men we once thought we would become.I wonder how many of us actually grew up to be what we once dreamed?

[.]

This poem is a whole mood. Never hated the weekend ending so much until right now. I agree doing this one routine over and over again to survive is horrible. Very relatable

[Timothy Ryan]

Thank you for taking time to give it a read. I appreciate it.

[Muslimah Triyati]

What does your poem describe?