Listen up Young Man!
You stalk in here every morning,
Your suit sharp and briefcase gleaming,
A scent of expensive cologne trails behind,
Dreadfully camouflaging the reek of a rotting mind.
Your frown greets me sourly,
Your fingers slam at my smooth surface,
Your foot taps restlessly against my corner,
Your shoulders crack from a cramped misery,
Your tie chokes every pleasantry you spittle out,
Your pursed mouth smothers your violent expletives.
Where is the boy who wished to soar in stars?
Where is the athlete who lived to play football?
Where is the youth who aspired to bring a change?
I see a ghost who has forgotten the face of the skies.
I find a shadow who can barely keep up his forged smile.
I hear a slave who bequeathed the power of a spirited fight.
Listen up Young Man!
The stale air is drawing your life out,
The dream of green notes haunting your sleep,
The incessant torrent of reports stifling your vision,
Run! Lest they make a rat out of you in this twisted race.
At dVerse, Marina Sofia recommended an exercise to make the abstract concrete, where I ended up with the prompt “Frustrated Desk”. This is my slightly skewed take on it.
An Armchair Perfectionist 
Only if it was easy to leave everything behind and chase your dreams. Such a painful reality.
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True! One can only hope.
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I do hope he listens. It sounds like he has taken the wrong turn in life, but hopefully he will find a way to ‘soar to the stars’ once again!
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A wrong turn. A misguided decision. Who knows! Thank you for stopping by.
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You gave the desk a terrific voice ~ I think the young should pursue their passions and never let it out of sight ~ Working at the desk is a reality but it should be balanced with other interests as well ~
Enjoyed this one ~
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Thank you Grace! Passions should always stay close by if you even hope to stay sane.
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Great use of “rat race,” lets hope the boy still has enough of his ability to dream to hear the desk’s words of advice.
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Thank you! Only the future can tell…
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Oooh, I like this! What a wise old desk you have here – although, shush, don’t let my parents hear it!
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Thanks a lot! It was a great prompt.
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This is such a good poem! It is hard not to feel a sense of waste when we see people we used to know as young idealists forsake their dreams and opt for the rat race instead.
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I see exactly the same thing happening to my friends and unfortunately, to myself as well. Still searching…
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Well I can relate 😦
Thank god I don’t go to work all suited up :p It would have turned out to be my biography in poetic form!
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Rahul, I think almost all of us are a part of what inspired it. And a few hundred thousand more.
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insightful – I can say that my work nearly killed me. You’ve used the desk as a nice foil to point out that which is obvious to everyone… but ourselves
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Thanks a lot… Unspoken words often contain a treasure.
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oh – oh – the most expensive eau de cologne cannot cover the smell of a rotten mind… i hope he manages to escape that treadmill… sounds like he’s been there too long already..
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Yes, Claudia! I hope so too and waiting for it!
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I take it that you don’t work behind a desk?
Grim
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I work at a desk about 50 hours a week and have witnessed so many aspirations fizzle out! Hence, the tone.
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I preferred a desk to working on a milling machine or assembly line; still do, but a terrific take on the prompt for sure; like the line /I see a ghost who has forgotten the face of the skies/. powerful emotions & imagery.
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So do I, Glenn! Anyday. But at times, it gets suffocating. Thanks a lot for your comments!
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This is perfect and such a good lesson, as well. I have a feeling that, at times, my desk could be frustrated too!
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Take a look at it, maybe you’ll hear a few words. Thank you Victoria!
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The way we are changed by those mindless jobs.. the way we suffer under something we have ceased to understand. it could be green but it’s rarely leafs..
Happy birthday in advance 🙂
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That was beautiful, ‘it could be green but it’s rarely leafs’.
Thanks a lot Bjorn 🙂
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Unique perspecitive. Powerful message from a desk…the desk sounds as though it was there for many a great (wo)man before this boy in mens clothing.
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Thank you! I honestly feel that if the walls, the furniture, the plants could speak – we’ll be a lot wiser than what we are.
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A great lesson!
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Thank you!
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I have a friend that went back to the rat race. Not that she doesn’t have choices.
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To each their own! It’s healthy when it doesn’t cripple your dreams and make a shadow out of you. I guess. Still figuring out!
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Quite.
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This is really good. You have a great voice for poetry and prose. I used to be in the rat race, I don’t miss it.
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Thank you! Unfortunately, I am in the race and trying hard not to end up as a rat – however yummy the cheese maybe.
If that even made sense!
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Perfect sense! I think you have nothing to worry about, if you keep the same attitude you have now and keep using writing or some other type of creative form as an outlet, earning your “cheese” will be just a small part of your life.
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You hit the nail! The reason I started writing was because of the suppressed creativity. To make and show something of my time.
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This is excellent! As children we are free to live, love and to enjoy life. Then, almost suddenly, we are sucked into a trap of having to earn a dollar, not having enough time, too busy for family, too busy for ourselves. We get so caught up in our responsibilities and over-extending ourselves, that we forget who we are in the process.
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Well said! We forget our ‘rights’ in the face of duties and responsibilities which are equally important!
Thank you!
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And that’s why i quit a corporate job and took up freelancing.
Dropping in from Indiblogger. We love our guests at The Sinhas at No. 302 http://sinhasat302.blogspot.in/
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Thank you for visiting and commenting 🙂
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Wonderful! Who can know that better than the desk? However, the third para, somehow, didn’t fit in for me (but that’s just me) 🙂
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If only these inanimate objects could share their thoughts! Thanks a lot for your comments 🙂
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haha! *shouts a big noooo”. People already scare me saying walls can hear too… now, I shudder to wonder, how it would it be like…”desks can talk too” 😛 😛 (On a serious note, like the perspective and the way you put it down) Happy blogging!
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Capitalism can provide one luxury, power to exploit & materialistic illusions that one can build around himself but it can’t provide solace & meaning.
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That’s correct. Few are lucky to get the best of both.
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