This Is Life.

You wake to a morning sky infested with pollutants
And cigarrette smoke that mixes fashionably well
With the alcohol.
The eggs sizzle dryly over the oven
And the toasts burn as the butter leaks its way
Into your over cushioned skin.

And this is life you say.

Your favourite shirt is crowded with yesterday's crumbs
And your cat is licking the dust off your shoes as
You head to the bus stop, a step closer to your 8 hours
Of mediocre living.
Stan waves hello, though his eyes droop as he opens the door,
And you realize he's been through another rough night on the couch.

What a poor guy, you say.

You stack shelves and suck up to both manager and boss
And force quiet cordiality towards bitchy customers who
Demand answers to questions you never took up.
The clock mocks you, moving slowly, and painfully,
Weighing down the thick thorns over your beloved heart--
A heart no one wants as of yet.

So this is working, you say.

You spend lunch alone at the Diner across the street and
Take in the view of old retired seniles who guard their eyes
With disapproval and disgust towards your phony interior.
You sniff in grease and stare down at a set of dirty fries that shine
And glisten in the light, and much to your dismay you eat them.

So this is lunch, you say.

You take a crap before you return to your remainder of hellish hours
Of rotting in the same position; meantime your mind reels back
Towards memories of an over confident teenage heart throb who cared nothing
For intelligence and lived in the moment each day, sucking the milk dry
Out of poor Mama's pockets.

So I pissed it all away, you say.

At night you listen next door in bed to laughter and pleasure;
A roller coaster of emotions that you've somehow managed to keep track of
These last few years of loneliness. They cause you to question whether
You were every truly happy in this lifetime, whether you ever really loved somebody,
and whether you aimed high and tried to achieve the dreams
That didn't seem so far fetched at the time.

So this is life you say, as you roll to your side.