The experience of a lifetime,
a brief encounter of unemployment
rushing in, and unemployment
benefits running out

a benefit, to whose cause,
paying out the nose, living
from paycheck to paycheck,
struggling just to make
ends meet, when all you ever did
was try, try to succeed in
living from paycheck to paycheck

a dollar and a dream, indeed,
just one more paycheck, perhaps
an extension, nope, and the
clock tick- tock’s and time
on the clock has just run out

three footsteps left to get to
to the finish line
and latching on is
a wealth of anxiety
trying to beat you down

thinking one step at a time,
that’s all I need to cross
over to the eating line,
but your inexperienced and
overwhelmed with the
rules of patience and
diligence that’s running
out while unemployment
remains still hard to
explain because you left
the verbiage at the door,
as requested, right
before you checked your
last words out and you
said, damn,
I’m really hungry today

thirst and hunger standing
right beside you in
St. Mary’s soup line and
not a vein word in those
thoughts of yours as
your ready to dine out,
thinking, you’ve died
and gone to heaven

and the hungry hand
that’s stuttering from
the cold as you reach and
grab today’s first plate,
and boom, just when you
thought you were close, an
angelic voice in a
spiraling whisper,
whispers, I’m sorry,
maybe tomorrow we’ll have
enough to feed another

and again, the soup line
stops here, ‘cause the buck
sure didn’t, and again
another benefit like
the rest has just ran out
on me

and damn, I feel the urge
of anger cutting me down,
I see society’s system
putting me down,
letting me down,
when it was only yesterday
that I was an active
participant, contributing
to the wealth of this
economy

and now I can’t sleep,
didn’t even eat,
no food,
but I’m thankful
for the small portion
from yesterday,
sick to my stomach,
I know my children must
be, too, my poor baby’s
coughing and I’m crying,
too, as I render the
doors in my mind closed,
hoping not to remember
that there ain’t no
medical benefits, no
more

no more nothing,
not a dime to rub
together,

the bank’s on the phone,
talking ‘bout I owe them,
and

the IRS’s refund is just
a week
away, but that don’t
include me, ‘cause I
didn’t work not even a
day last year.

I confront myself with
yesterday, telling myself
today, that today and
yesterday have been useful
and fulfilled and I consider
it a lesson learned and

I call forth my burning
and aching feet for another
journey, as I stumble across
my reflection in the mirror
on my way out, and my last
thoughts here are gee wiz,
you look a real mess, and

I look around as I remember
how the warmth felt, when,

you see, but no you can’t see
as I reminisce about the car
that is no more, couldn’t
make the payment, they finally
caught up with me, you know
who I’m talking about,
the repro man and he done,
done it again.

my best friends, they don’t
live the fast life, they
haven’t even conquered the
three stages of life and
here they are,
already at three, and
shattered

it seems to me, it took
less time for them to get
to nowhere and it’s not
funny, ‘cause they didn’t have
nothing from the start,

they were just getting
started out here in this
mean and ugly world,
when unemployment ran in
and the U.S. funds ran out

I guess, they have to keep
the poor coming in so they
can recycle a larger portion
and every now and then, the
economy let’s one out, but
not without ending the
conversation with, I guess
I’ll see you back real soon
and remember, Yall come back,
you hear

and you whisper the fear
in your mind out, screaming,
trying to spit it out before
it reaches the surface and you
finally utter the words in
relief, not if I can help it

and the houses on this
block remain big, bold
and beautiful, and
unemployment still pulls
the bottom out from your
feet, alerting you that
the big, bold and tragic
sign of foreclosure means
that this house emptied,
is now unemployed, too

and the question in my
mind remains clear and
vivid, where have all the
people gone, and a thump
knocking at my door
reveals a courtesy and a
wake up call,

and to no avail I watch
my mind stumble, and I
scratch my head in
disbelief, ‘cause I
know that the content’s
in this big ole house,
real soon,
will be the next
one emptied