The Man Cave

he built a wing to the house that they bought together, because he needs space but he has no way to get away, now that she & the kids are a permanent fixture, now that the job & the house payments, the taxes, the diapers, the sleepless nights & the overwhelming stress of a life settled for, have filled his world--- he stuffs his wing with creature comforts, the things that she deems childish or she simply has no interest in--- he’s got everything from a special refrigerator for his favorite brew, to a big screen tv. for his xbox--- he’s fully equipped & when his friends come over for the big game, he leaves the kids & the wife in the house & they all flood the man cave for a itty bitty piece of happiness & had they not forgotten to turn their cell phones off, each of them could spend as long as they wanted there, like big boys who still had a crumb of individuality, but alas, as the calls begin to come in, each domesticated man is picked off one by one & the misery of middle-age-&-married-with-kids hits him like a brass knuckle fist--- he’s played his roll, propagating the species & will live out the rest of his days pretending he knows what it feels like to be free.