the table waits, eight or so in a broken line,
take this, but watch the edges, a paper cut away,
a room of white & grey, too much grey,
follow work-flow, workplace understanding,
it’s a mess of this & that, but the name,
dress to suit, don’t look up, camera eye,
security & the old man who pushes mail through
a machine, find food, but here we go,
paper upon paper, file & forget,
the experts of prep, with a gap in diversity,
a serial reinforcement across the floor,
remove sticky notes & staples,
don’t read too much, but information is
important, & here we are,
smile & look away, bald head & glasses,
wandering eyes watch the copier copy,
then again, perforated edges, cough &
smoke exhales, over the next few days,
the room will grow, smaller, to miss
the open space, the moments within,
arms against, now again, a return,
accents in voices, the nasal sound
of time & broken vowels, listen,
but here, this short ceiling, these cubes,
a room slipped inside as an after-thought,
the stamper stamps, they know their way around,
the upbeat onset of a job accepted, what cost,
paper, a question extended, think
within contained parameters, feed
the scanner, sort & lift the tray,
read into lines
& broken ideologies
