Depression Makes a Lousy Breakfast

Drapes are closed but the sun gets through Summer morning, birds a-tweeting Sweat on sheets, personal dew Two more snoozes then up for meeting A chunk of mahogany Surrounded by suits Well-shaved chins Playing silk flutes Golden cuff links Slide over shine Reaching for Perriere: Businessman's wine The big-haired girl With tight lips and skirt With clipboard and pen In a roomful of men She manages managers Directs the directors Away from the P's and Q's they might blurt When minutes are taken They while away hours In a concrete maze With the rented flowers The plastic shag carpet The paper thin walls The wood-textured desk Holding five clacking balls The photo of daughter The drawing by son The lunch packed by wife: Ham and cheese in a bun Like a silent fire drill At four-thirty flat The lifts are sardined With impersonal chat All hoping to beat The motorized fleet- The Mercedes armada That trawls down their street Curtains open, sun goes down A day in credit, a night in debt A silent pillow away from town Night light off, alarm clock set