Tag: jobs

#PoeticAnswers 28 – So, What Do You Do?

#PoeticAnswers 28 – So, What Do You Do?

I work for the Government.
It sounds a lot cooler than it actually is.
I work in Government finance and
Administrate Government grants
To help local councils develop their
Green and low-carbon infrastructure
To help promote the uptake of
Active travel and electric vehicles.

I play video games.
It sounds a lot cooler than it actually is.
Essentially, I just sit around
On my arse all day,
Pushing buttons and fiddling with joysticks,
Reminding myself of my previous,
And slightly more devious,
Sex life.

I play musical instruments.
It sounds a lot cooler than it actually is.
Piano, accordion, ukulele and banjo
Amongst a few others which,
In conjunction with my vape and my
What can only be described as “questionable” facial hair,
And the wafro which encompasses and cushions my skull,
Effectively makes me the world’s ultimate hipster.

I write poetry.
It sounds a lot cooler than it actually is.
It does nothing for the hipster stereotype
That I established in the previous stanza,
Nor does it make me sound like any less
Of an absolute wanker,
The only way I could possibly be worse
Is if I could actually afford a Macbook.

I see a therapist.
It sounds a lot cooler than it actually is.
It’s mostly just talking about
What I’ve been doing and
Why I’ve not been to see them in two months,
Which leads to further conversations about
My relationships, or apparent lack of them,
Resulting in deep-sea dives into my personality.

I suffer from bipolar disorder.
It sounds a lot cooler than it actually is.
It’s like a low-budget rollercoaster,
Only ever hitting highs and lows
Or somewhere in between,
Making me see things that can’t actually be seen.
Making unscheduled stops in places I don’t know,
Driving me off the rails like a runaway train.

I self-harm.
It sounds a lot cooler than it actually is.
I lock myself away emotionally and physically,
Hiding inside the shattered remains of my
Already fractured mind.
Smoking, bruising, purging, cutting,
Using my body as a punching bag
To knock some sense into myself.

I spend a lot of time thinking about suicide.
It sounds a lot cooler than it actually is.
Wondering why it would be better
To let my helter-skelter life
Plummet off the edge of the waterfall
At the end of my shallow-water life.
It’s the result of nihilism instilled by
Self-doubt, mental health, and life choices.

And having to work for the Government.

Question from Lisa T. from Facebook

#PoeticAnswers 23 – Why Do People Keep Trying To Tell Me How To Be A Girl?

Because they have an image of you
Based on statue from ancient times.
When women were a delicate flower,
They needed protected or saved.
When they were rescued, they were enslaved
And treated like a trophy or property.

Because people want you to:
Be skinny, be curvy,
Be representative of male ideology
Succumb to atypical sexist idolatry
“Because that’s how you’re supposed to be”
But girl, you are not set in stone.

You are flesh and blood,
You were born naked,
So make your skin your tapestry,
And let your body be your home.
Build it and break it and
Paint it and decorate it however you want,

Because it’s yours and no one else’s.
Let no one else tell you
How to run your body.
Love is free so be free
Take the time to love yourself
And anyone else you damn well please
In any way you damn well please.

Be what you want to be,
Drop out of school or take the degree,
Be free, be the next Joan of Arc or Marie Curie,
Because without brilliant women, where would we be?
Without computers, without Kevlar, without basic telecommunication,
We’d still be Victorian, so be victorious
In arts, finance, technology or science.

Be the next Amanda Palmer or Lise Meitner,
The next Ellen MacArthur or Otep Shamaya,
Musician or physicist,
Athlete or writer,
And do not let anything get in your way
But if anything tries, just know you are stronger.

You do not have to
Make his sandwiches, his home or his baby.
You don’t not have to
Be a nurse, be quiet or be a secretary.
You don’t have to be anything you don’t want to be.
Because nonconformity does not affect femininity.

This is not feminist propaganda,
This is an affirmation of humanity.
No one can tell you how to be a girl,
But if they try, just remember:
They’re the one with the problem,
Not you.

Question from Jaymie B. from Facebook

#PoeticAnswers 19 – Why Are The Selfless So Easily Forgotten?

They didn’t do it for them,
Because it was never about them.

They didn’t do it for the fame,
Because it was always just a job.

They didn’t do it for the glory,
Because there was no glory to be had.

They didn’t do it for a reward,
Because there was nothing to win.

They didn’t do it for the cause,
Because causality and casualty were too close together.

They did it because they had to,
Because they gave their life to something else.

They did it for us,
Because that’s what they were told to believe.

They did it for nothing,
And nothing accepted them because no one else would.

Question from Briar R. from Facebook.

#PoeticAnswers 18 – Why Do You Want To Work Here?

Sir, if you expect me to grovel,
Then I shall exceed expectations.
I routinely aim to exceed expectations,
If I was a Charles Dickens novel,
I would be Great Expectations.
I feel it should be expected
That I am expected to exceed expectations
And I expect that you agree,
And we can both agree on
Expectations I can exceed.

I feel that we can
Expand into the international market.
I know you don’t actually sell anything
But there’s a market for that.
There’s an app for that.
We can make an app for that.
There’s a market for an app
For people looking for a market
To make an app for,
And I can help with that.

This is a company that has family values
And I can relate to that.
I will relate to that,
I have relatives and relations that
Let me relate to that
On a relateable level
So I would be a perfect fit
Because we relate to each other
When it comes to building strong relationships.

Sir, if you expect me to grovel,
I will, but in all honesty,
I’m just in this for the money.

Question from a recent job interview.  

#PoeticAnswers 6 – When You Were Little, What Did You Want to Be When You Grew Up?

During the misadventures of my youth
I was torn between
“Spaceman” and “dinosaur”.
But when you’re four,
You don’t know.

I knew I didn’t want to be an adult
Because adults were boring
And regularly abandoned me
In this weird room of bright colours and toys.
I should’ve been resentful, but I had toys.

I spent seventeen years
Locked in education,
Gaining the years and transforming.
Gaining and losing friends, sense and myself
But every day I’m still learning, I can’t be grown up

These days, I sit in an office
That slowly suffocates me.
I’m mature enough to know responsibility,
But I know I can’t be grown up,
I still have a Chewbacca bobble-head on my desk.

I’ve definitely grown old
And I’ve definitely grown out
But I haven’t grown up.
I still don’t know what I want to be.
I’m still torn between “Spaceman” and “dinosaur”.

Question from Cat T. from Facebook