You don’t know me
sitting there palms clasped,
calm and peaceful
tragically well adorned
casually dressed for the weather.
bleached teeth perfectly suited to that condescending smile,
Secure in your perfect knowledge,
better looking
and better educated
slouching just enough to suggest there’s still some insolent, mischievous relic of a man hidden there in high backed chairs with lumbar supports
fit for your ergonomically designed, OSHA Approved lifestyle,
every move choreographed and underwritten
You don’t fucking know me man,
goddamn shiteating grin spread like lies
ear to fucking ear
trying to decide how to win win win
and all the while claiming to be one of us
but you’ve never been one of us.
What wine pairs best with government cheese motherfucker?
Daring safety net heroes swinging in your cages trying to grasp the rings
and you know what?
That’s fine by me,
don’t be one of us,
We of the beer swilling, catcalling desperate variety
terrified we’ll lose our shitty dead end soul sucking jobs
those of us without a penny in the bank
we’ve mortgaged our pots to piss in
if we ever had them.
Why would I hire some dumb shit like me to be in charge,
I’ve been in charge my whole goddamn life and all I got was this lousy t shirt and
substandard health insurance.
You don’t know me
and you’d be a hell of a lot better off just saying so,
just admitting you were fucking better off
better equipped
We hired an everyman dipshit cowboy once and look at the cock up that turned out to be.
Don’t you dare bump fists, and look knowingly into the crowd for approval,
stained white teeth assuring us, “Hey brother, I’m one of you, one of the good guys”
cuz here’s a newsflash,
we aren’t such good guys
and you fucking know it.
Contented Under Pressure 