Running for Your Life: A “Hump Day” Poem

A Profession *
By Jamie Baxter

The most dangerous kind of waste is the waste we do not recognize.
-        Shigeo Shingo

Thank you for giving me this opportunity          in the world of work
I will endeavor    I will strive   I’ve put hands on parts of my body
and committed   It is a noble pastime to work   few would disagree
though some might shun   not I   Recognizing my own potential
I have become a corporate citizen   The office square fills with workers
at lunch   wandering from their desks into the highest point of the sun
though often in the form of rain   Some days I staple my work to my desk
so I can slowly unpick it   There’s so much to look forward to
like watching Thomas fail    What a thrill it is      not being Thomas
His eyes back    from the bathroom blare     I save files and am constantly
printing or making notes at easily remembered meetings      Sometimes I strip
in the toilet cubicle   only to redress     but there is a moment
I care very deeply about this company    whose name     I will research
My lunch is almost ready to be removed from the photocopier    What a thrill
to receive so many different looks during the course of a day   from the same set
of people     I am very focused on being here    My emails are always leaving
and move through the one language I know     and few others
I’m vaguely aware of    I’m always being asked for advice   how did you
get a job here      how do you define failure or success     When the red
of the clouds fades to pink during the 4 o’clock winter sunsets and everyone gathers
by the windows to take in the view I tut and shout    make sure they get back to work
I’m always making coffee       and throwing it away   I don’t drink coffee

* London Review of Books, Feb. 8, 2018

Next: Running for Your Life: Lock And Free


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