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a m a n d a Dec 2019
hey.
listen.

i'm just a grunt
a cog in the machine
trying to get the same sized piece
of the american d r e a m
that you have.

but you don't see.
the absolute crack in the structure
of reality between
our generations,
and so you think it is e a z y
that we are lazy.

i almost laugh when i see you
scan the exact same insurance card from
20 years ago
you silly, silly babies.

you want to talk health insurance?
i am 39.
i was born in 1980, and at this very moment,
off the top of my head,
i can recall
having at the very least 9
different health insurance
providers since
i was 22 years old.

back then, i made $9/hour
and that was acceptable for the
state of my experience and education.
but much has changed in 17 years.
now, i make $16.50/hour and that,
my friends,
is not a decent salary
for a 39 year old that
is supposed to magically be saving for
a retirement that is getting less and less likely
by the day, because those
crazy things you old coots had
called "pensions" are a no-go in this climate...
while i am over here struggling with shelter,
food, clothing, healthcare, and education.

you have homes and cars
and dishwashers and pools
and vacations and
private schools and plenty of groceries
you don't think twice about going out
giving gifts
buying yourself treats, things
that are unnecessary
some of us only live in the world
of the necessary
and we have
d e b t.
live not even one paycheck
to the next.
there is no luxury
one moment from an emergency
with little comfort
and little hope

because of the things
you voted for. for the people you voted in the office.
the ideas you allowed to brew.
the envy and the greed.
and oh the righteousness.
the hypocrisy is just dynomite.
you done ****** up.
the planet, education, healthcare,
childcare, banks, greed, Wall Street, and corruption.
even for those of us who are
white and privileged and educated
there is no way out of the cycle
so imagine what you have done
to all the brown and black people.
the disabled. the veterans. the homeless. the sick.
the elderly. children. it's a ******* shitshow.

man after man after man after man and
war after war after war after war
and dollar after dollar after dollar after dollar

currently healthcare premiums alone
are 21% of my income after taxes
not including copays, deductibles,
coinsurance, medications, and things they
simply will not cover.

I went to school for 7 years,
have a master's degree, and
currently make $7.50 more/hour
than I did when I was 22 years old
(17 years ago)
with no experience whatsoever
and a bachelor's degree.

now i have a master's degree
over a decade of expertise and experience
and student loans that have gone from $80,000 to $120,000
and for that i get $7.50 more/hour
for a job
not in my field.
that doesn't even give you insurance for 3
months during which time
you just quite literally hope
no one calls an ambulance on you cuz
there is no way you are going bankrupt
for passing out from anxiety
over the state of your life, and besides, if you get sick
you are not allowed one iota of personal time
for the first 90 days

i will not even embarrass you
with the hilarious  student loan repayment options.
we won't even add the proposed $1800 payment to the
monthly analysis just to be jokesters.

rent is 25%
(for a ******, ugly, place)
not including heat
water, electric, internet,
cell phone


gas alone is 9%
i haven't even mentioned
food, car payments, and car insurance

can you see where the desperation might creep in?
you didn't go to college, or if you did,
tuition was truly affordable
on an average person's salary.
you expect things to be easy because they were easy
for you even though you think
it was hard.
it was not hard.
children and adults fully
financially stable on one average person's income?!
"middle class" is a joke.
it is not what it once was.
and to me, now
it seems quite
an impossible dream.
getting one job and keeping it practically
your entire life?!
stop it, my side hurts!
a bonus?!
please!
a union?!
comprehensive healthcare for your entire family
with no deductible and little to no copays?
girl, you sure is funny.
an affordable home?
****,
we haven't even talked about
credit card debt!
outrageous taxes, tolls,
and fees.
for-profit prisons
and for-profit healthcare.
why what a wonderful idea,
surely will do the most good
for the most people.
3 billionaires
own more wealth
than the entire bottom half of americans.
read that again, please.

your tactics have brought us corporate greed, corruption,
a failed war on drugs, a failure to teach equality
and comprehensive *** education in schools
untold wars, mutilation, torture, and death
the suppression of women.

my life is the proof of your oppression
and the heart of your discontent
but you could never live it and survive
you delicate little flowers
  the system is ******
and the very foundation is crumbling
As of December 1, which is the 335th day of the year, there have been 385 mass shootings in the U.S., according to data from the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive (GVA), which tracks every mass shooting in the country. Twenty-nine of those shootings were mass murders.

your thought are gong backward
and it is painfully obvious to
the rest of us
that you are simply]
of no use to us,
the people looking
toward a better future.

you did not prepare us for
the world of your making
you prepared us for your world
and that is why there is a disconnect.

but ok, b o o m e r





ok, boomer
whatever you say
Adam L Alexander Jul 2010
un·hap·py·man*   [uhn-hap-ee-man]

-Noun
1. Undersexed.

2. Underfed.

3. *Archa­ic
. Doing dishes; cleaning; childcare
Lisa Neu Feb 2015
What is it to live just below financial "self sufficiency"?
* Food assistance
* Energy assistance
* Medical assistance

and still having a hard time making ends meet.

* Enormous student loans to repay
* Mortgage payments near half our monthly income
* Old cars breaking down and needing repair

Two working parents
Can't afford childcare
Can't afford dental care
Can't afford so many things...

It's like being "almost" healthy --
well enough to live and
look normal

but every day taking a toll on the body

unseen

but there.

Bringing you down over time

so that one day when you CRASH

people wonder why.

You looked fine.


Just Below Sufficient is no place to be.

How do I help my children have advantages
I can't afford
that might keep them from this same situation?

What is it to be family
when work requires both
mother and father to be
single parents most of the time?

We are following our calls
Working hard
Doing the best we know how

YET -
at the edge of every day the stress
threatening to overtake us

Waiting for the days we will CRASH
and hoping for the miracle of
better pay for our work.
Barton D Smock Sep 2014
I cowered early.  my mother received one leaf per nakedness.  in my youth, I was touched into being a mold of the unborn.  I was said to be overheard and I was said to be with mother.  I was spotted by a spoonful of milk being fought over by those I slipped from to watch tv in the smallest museum of childcare.  when I am most alone I count backward for my newest boy and for god’s limited son.  soon is a heaven of affordable pills.  comfort is knowing all my boys have eaten late.  yesterday gives birth to a pecking order.
drunkonthoughts Dec 2013
school seems like so long ago. i miss the one i called my ''best friend''..
we sat together in every class, exchanged notes every time we were bored,
always got told by the teachers to stop laughing and to pay attention.

everything was lovely. and then school came to an end,
and we both took a course in childcare, hoping we'd be close.

then, we drifted apart. she had her new friends..i was alone.
it's been years since i've last seen her. i miss her a lot.
things like this, you can never really forget.
i know people change and memories remain,
but it doesn't make it any less painful.

never knew i was so easy to forget...

the same thing always happens and it just hurts.
it's one of the reasons i write.
i write to feel something.

i don't write about people for no reason,
i write about them BECAUSE of them.

it's not always negativity,
sometimes it's the opposite.

sometimes, i praise them for being in my life,
and at times, i write about how they just ruined me.

poetry is meant to be full of emotion..
otherwise, it would be empty words.
basically a vent.
Àŧùl  Oct 2019
Eli, Eli
Àŧùl Oct 2019
"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?"

So He said in despair.
Son of The Father, you call him?
Now, He is so unfair.
Why did A Father abandon His child?
A wrong number.
Do you all believe in falsehood?
Unmonitored childcare.
Even Eli's Son found His faith unsure.
Then how can you be so sure?
The Son thought that The Father abandoned Him.

Is such a
Father
trustworthy of your human faith?

I'd have such a Father under probation,
And His Child under human protection.

Find your faith in Rámà and Křšņà
Because they are both the same.

He is Vìšņù,
The Conserver.
He is without any sin,
The Faithful Protector.
He will never betray you.

Wait for the Kalki to reveal,
As for the Devil's faith, Kalki will dismantle.
Book of Mathew, Chapter 27.
My HP Poem #1784
©Atul Kaushal
a m a n d a Nov 2016
imagine.

you are a 14 year old boy
and one day
a strange, 45 year old woman
that you have never met

comes running at you
full speed while you
are walking home from school.

she knocks you to the ground
and kicks you in the stomach.
drags you to her car.

she pulls a screaming baby
out of a carseat and
forces it into your arms.
tells you it's yours now.
it's registered in your name.

while you stand there in
shock and disbelief
blood dripping down your face
she warns you that if you
ever tell anyone about
what just happened she
will ****** your entire family.

she gets in her car
speeds off and
you never see her again.

you go home with a
hysterical baby and
tell your parents what happened.

they just shake their heads at you.
you must have done something
to make this happen.

and so sorry,
but you have to keep that baby.
there is no other option.

you are only 14.
still, you are responsible for
making sure that baby doesn't die.

you have to figure out with your 6th grade
education how to
feed your new baby.
and get it healthcare.
and an education.

no more football games for you, son.
you don't matter anymore.

you shouldn't have been walking home
by yourself with a red shirt on.

you plead for help.
your parents don't care.
your friends can't help you.
you can't go to school anymore.
you can't pay for childcare.
and your government wants
to punish YOU.

can you imagine?
because i can.
Dave Robertson Jun 2021
Here’s my thinking:
Sir Kevan probably gave a decent plan
with solid foundations and associated cost
not loss
and all the Ricardians could see
was that it wasn’t all me, me, me
and so slashed away and thought:
those dumb enough to teach
can eat the **** sandwich
it’s not like they do anything that matters,
****** chattering classes,
now, how do we get them to do childcare
for the next six weeks
to stop the knived dead
and angry, apoplectic kids
and make sure their drone folks are on the lines
to feed our fat, fatcat selves?
I’m sure that Portia works for Ofsted...

— The End —