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21st century unemployment blues |
by John Grochalski
just give me the pink slip
and let me go
i'm done with your tepid hubris
done with the rallys and stale hyperbole
just give the pink slip
and let me drift off
into the bars
into the fields of rotten grass
where nothing left can grow
let me go
into the great unknown
save the rhetoric
just give me the pink slip
so that i can wipe my ass with it
so that i can go south and use it
to wipe up some oil
sell it on ebay
post a picture of it on facebook
play the unemployment blues on youtube
just give me the pink slip, you cowards
don't give me the sad looks
shove the empathy down your mouths
i want the pink slip and i want paid
three weeks of unused vacation, baby
sick time
the works
give it to me in unmarked bills
in a lead suitcase
give me the pink slip and give me the case
give me the freedom to sink or swim
put it between your tits
and shake, baby, shake
have fun paying your bills, motherfucks
have fun with a roof over your head
i'll be eating government cheese
in a glass case
on hulu.com tonight
it pays surprisingly well
and the government can't trace it
so the unemployment checks will still be rolling in
give me the pink slip, sweetheart
because i'm getting anxious to go out
and get fat off this great land.
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he gives it all away |
by John Grochalski
we sit underneath a canopy
and the rain falls
he tells me the world
is going to hell
that people think it's
getting better but it's not
i know this guy, he says
and that guy
neither of them have jobs
the only reason
that unemployment is going down
is because people are getting
kicked off of it
they've put in their two years
now they're gone
my one neighbor
he's thinking about selling his blood
tell me, he says
where are the jobs?
i shrug
there aren't any, he says
foreclosures everywhere too
all you see are foreclosures, he says
as i watch the rain drip
and think of adding the cable bill
to the things that we can do without
you can tell it's bad
just by looking at
the trucking industry
nothing being imported
nothing being exported
it's just war and oil in the ocean
and fuck all of us, he says
then he stops and pours
more beer into his mug
i reach into the cooler
grab another miller light
my tenth of the day
this country ain't what it used to be, he says
and it ain't coming back
until we hit rock bottom together
you know? he says
i mean
do you get it?
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dear mom |
by John Grochalski
no, i'm not dead
i simply did not go online yesterday
so i didn't see the two emails
that you sent.
and i don't bring the phone out
with me, so i didn't get
the two frantic messages that you left.
but mom i'm not dead
although it's kind of you to worry.
i went to the museum
if you must know.
i talked cubism with braque and picasso
and hung around the hookers with van gogh.
i didn't slip and fall in the shower
like you thought.
shower? it's not even thursday yet.
and i didn't commit suicide
like your neighbor's daughter's boyfriend did
in florida
maybe i would if i had to live in florida
so i'm not dead mom
but i did sleep in rauschenberg's bed
and ran around in masks with ensor
i laughed at the audacity of warhol
and threw darts with jasper johns
i wondered where basquiat was
i bought a postcard of the three musicians
i got drunk on beer and wine with ally
in the grassroots tavern
but i didn't die yesterday.
no one mugged me at gunpoint
or stuck in knife in my chest.
no air conditioning units fell on my head
and the oven didn't blow up.
new york city isn't an episode
of law and order
all of the time
so please turn off the tv and stop worrying.
learn how to forget this modern world,
mother,
where everyone can be reached in one click.
where if you're in london or paris these days
you might as well be sitting at home.
just know that some of us like
to be left alone on our days off.
i know that you might not be
one of those types of people
but i am.
so just remember that i'm not dead,
mom.
i went to the art museum
and saw a few friends that i hadn't seen
in a long while.
and i hope everything is fine your way.
sorry that mitchell and carol
are getting a divorce
and that it's so hot and muggy
in pittsburgh
i'll give you a call next weekend, okay?
sunday evening
same bat time.
same bat channel.
John Grochalski is the author of The Noose Doesn't Get Any Looser After You Punch Out. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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