The Working Poor

When you're the working poor
you live paycheck to paycheck.
Your life is tied to the cycle of
bills you pay in order to live.
There might be a little bit of
money left afterwards but be
assured it'll never be much.
It'll never be enough to save
substantially. You blow off
your students loans because
fuck it, that's why. It's hard
to try and build a future when
all you can see is the never
ending cycle of bills in front
of you. So what do you do?
You drink, you try not to go
out too much, maybe you'll
see a movie every now and
then. If you have family that
live out of state or country
it'll be a herculean effort just
to try and see then once a year.
You live like this because
you feel like there is no choice.
This is your life and your
are trapped within it. You see
people living in homes worth
millions right by your job
and you wonder how they can
afford to live there and what
they must do. You grow to
believe yourself deficient in
some way, perhaps you start
to think you aren't a good
person, perhaps you aren't
working hard enough. You
have health insurance and
dental but you almost never go
because you can't afford the
cost of a visit, so you let your
health go, you let your teeth
be neglected. Tied to this wheel
you dream about breaking it.
You dream of what you would
do with yourself if only you had
the money and the time. You
would help your parents out
and any friends that need it.
You could afford a decent
apartment or perhaps a modest
two bedroom house. The reality
of your life dictates that these
will remain dreams and the longer
these remain dreams the older
you grown as your roots try
to grow in the salted fields.

For George

The world can only function

because of people like George

Tonight

he is sitting on a barstool

drunk out of his mind

He's been drinking for

five hours

to get away

from his work

on AC and Heating

His hands are thick

strips of meat

wrapped around bone

He says he's been a

fry cook

plumber

barback

gardener

driver

welder

and still

he struggles

to get by

I offer to buy him

a drink

but

he declines

He's had run-ins

with cops

and car accidents

He's a bit spooked

but needs

this relief

this numbing

to wake

and keep going

keep moving

to survive

in a world

indifferent

at best