He takes a drag,
closes his eyes.
Day after day.
More nicotine,
more misery.
So it goes.

She feeds the kids
and drops them off.
They learn multiplication,
and she cries at home.
All the years
have disappeared.
So it goes.

He sits at a desk
and makes calls.
to China, Brazil, and Montreal.
They're no different,
the grind is universal,
day in, day out.
So it goes.

How can the trance break?
The traps are set in stone.
Success, success.
Work, success.
Once there was more
Passion, recklessness.
We were alive.
Where'd it go?

We are safe.
No surprises.
But are we happy?
a few are.
I'd rather live and die
than join the horde
of you.

You work
and go home.
There is no life,
just a machine.
cogs and belts.
I quit.
I choose flesh.