I summon the depths
With Titanic defiance
Usurping the summit’s
Olympian tyrants
But still find their kind
An enchanting intrigue
When the real love affairs
Of this world
Have aggrieved
And deceived me more often
Than yielded the truth
Bittersweet
As I reach
For the Tantalus fruit
Still eluding me
Not before
Offering glimpses
Of nymphs seal my fate
To a constant ellipsis

Must be something
About me
Appealing
Revealing
As much as I can
Only yields
More concealing
I’ve got it together
Make money,
Enough
And I’m not the worst looking guy
Life is just rough
If you catch a few peeking
Intuit their thoughts,
Even one in a million
Crack smiles I’ve caught
But as soon as it hits me
I’ve already passed,
And it’s back alone
Back to
What’s under the mask

Rendered expendable
Merits commendable
Just not the right
Fit for you
At this time
Heard it once before
Now
I can’t leave it behind
Wasn’t good enough
Failed
To meet standards  
Unfair
And availed no comparison
Income upscaled
But I’m making more now
Doing less than I’d hoped
I’m the office space coffin’s
New friendliest ghost

No trouble fitting in
My skin
When no ones here
To day-begin
Alone within
The office dimly
Lit, the rain
Outside
Foreboding grimly
For my future
At this desk,
No directive
Yet expressed
Transparently
To feel secure
I’m vital to this job
Ensure
I’m here awhile
Not just temp
Though not quite sure
It’s permanent...

Now check the black code
Secret message
Embedded
Explicit content
Even Disney regretted
But only express it
When woke
Is the token
The singalong signaling
Virtue
Invoking
Nostalgic
Desensitized
Feasts for the eyes
The objectified princess
Is one of the guys
So best get with the program
Before the pogrom
Seeks to cleanse
The agenda
And cancel the prom
And instead impose masks
Of the master class act
Still determining
What the truth is
That’s a fact

What reassurances
Can you provide
That I’ll have a good time
If I let you inside
We have standards here
Prove yourself
Worthy of entry
I’ll gladly embrace you
And lay down the sentry
With room for more friends
I can always find space
Just don’t waste my time
Pacing your mouth
In my face

How does he keep
Finding pieces to write
They can pay him
A pittance
And still he’d recite
What he’d rather leave buried
Prefer go unheard
Introversions
Keep turning
The unwritten word
To the vanishing
Verbal
No longer
Preserved
In internal
Immortalized
Me
Exclusivities
Shared only when
I’m in moody
Declivities
Or if so prompted
To humor requests
Or else leave me
The blanks
And I’ll fill in the rest