Saturday, September 14, 2024

graveling for a raise June 27, 2012

 



 She is not the first

 to ask the owner for a raise,

 this poor girl rich in talent,

 but little else, graveling before

 the feet of this financial god 

who we all need yet dislike, 

not because he’s rich,

 but because he’s cheap, 

each new girl crawling

 into his office to beg for a wage 

with which they can live, 

and each told, no, though with her,

 it is hard to tell, he, godlike, 

granting her more if she will do more,

 rather than telling her,

 as he had the last supplicant, 

if she wants more money, 

 she should get another job.

Is that what all this flirting 

with him is about, 

wearing him down with admiration, 

seeking like the drip of water

 to break through his stone heart

 with offers he can’t possibly resist, 

while our former temporary boss

 hears all I heard about her poverty

 and her need to earn something 

that will keep her fed, 

choosing this path of the most resistance

 to win the heart of a man 

whose store heart resists her – almost.


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