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Contemplation Period
by Jeffrey ParrenOn those days
that I work
before the restaurant
is officially open
to help set up
I am always tested.
The only way in
is through the back door
(which countless patrons
have tried to use
as the super-secret
entrance, you know,
the one without
the big sign)
anyway, the back door
is locked
and we all have to
press a button
to alert our presence
so someone can let us in.
The ring sounds:
bing ... bong
bing ... bong
bing ... bong
which is perpetually followed
by a contemplation period
of well over 30 seconds
as no one answers
nor
lets me in
(for whatever reason)
and every time
I have successfully
pressed the button
a total of three times
I am stepping over
my own breaking point
ready to say
"screw that"
and do something
meaningful with my day
but without fail
I hear a voice
on the other end
telling me I can enter
usually at that moment
I am about to jet:
"Pull the door"
"La puerta"
"It's open!"
Thus by opening the door
I have successfully
sacrificed my freedom
for one more shift,
and to think
I was
so
close. 12/04/2008 Posted on 12/04/2008
Copyright © 2025 Jeffrey Parren
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Charlie Morgan on 12/04/08 at 04:16 PM ...jeff, this is packaged nicely and you nearly forget that the title tells us, it's contemplation...and you segue from the grind to the ESCAPE...and you were sooooo close, that one line is Heavy, we're all Walter Miteys and Don Quixotes...but these jobs tie us down, lovely. |
| Posted by Gabriel Ricard on 12/04/08 at 06:17 PM I almost wish this was a short story, because there's so much more you could say, but then I realize that the beauty of this being so good is that there's no wasted motion, if that makes sense. I love the ending, most of all. |
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