"overworked" poems
That workaholic lady who's always on call,
keeping up with the market fall.
That newly married lady with chunky red bangles,
returning to her father's big castles.
That person who's scared to get lapse,
so stays active on the google maps.
That person who swings like a kid at the back door,
Or the one who perform calisthenics on an empty floor.
That next door girl with a red lipstick,
flicking her shinny hair & gossiping with her clique,
That dreamer gazing outside the window,
That overworked soul dozing on his elbow.
That 21st century kid,
listening to Eminem & playing video games.
Or That 90’s kid,
listening to Jenga Boys & playing outdoor games.
That banker with a big fat stomach,
filled with his beautiful wife’s love.
That lady who eats like a thief,
in her big fat bag hiding a beef.
That old man who can’t stand Bombay's winding turns.
That granny spotting & criticing every fashion trends.
That man who has Raju Rastogi’s concerns,
thinking & chanting for earns & returns.
Those kids who believe their job is to fill the voids in a battlefield,
in the still crowd surpassing like electrons into a magnetic field.
That lady sitting under cold seat like a glacial,
than standing with 7kgs in a crowded central,
& tryna stay sane listening to George Michael.
That geek who switchs from Linkedin to Arjun Reddy,
when the masses flee into the scenery.
That trader crunching numbers so rapidly,
when the stock prices go down hourly.
That person on the last seat,
diagressing from work & gazing around,
soaking in her pashmina, with a career newfound.
Jul 23, 2018
Jul 23, 2018 at 1:35 AM UTC
Moon is not beautiful
She doth not shine golden
She drops weakened, white light
on creatures craving sleep
She sits there and stares
At a frightened little world
with her cold, chilling glow
and a hostility deep
It's ingrained in her soul
to make the nimbus look fearsome
ghastly and pale
like a place to hide demons
She debases belief
We forget our star-wish
and thick, we go fishing
at nighttime
And then, Moon releases
a loneliness, cold
and we can't elude
we're stuck in the hole of
This brooding solitude mood
and its tole.
There's no escaping anytime soon
As we start to fear
the burning sun
And I suppose, this is my loathing of Moon.
Moon is contagious.
She offers the aid of her presence, unfailing
When we're washed down like willows, weakened
and wailing
And we can sail under her
Just as the dime
It's a lie that the night's
only clock-start for crime
When she's out from the hiding place
to be bright as Moon can
There's not a direction
No footpath
No overworked plan
And when I remember:
Beauty needs not a rival
I suppose I'll be loving Moon, soon again.
Apr 15, 2014
Apr 15, 2014 at 10:54 AM UTC
What do you see, nurse, what's going on?
What are you thinking, when my buzzer turns on? -
desk full of paperwork growing in size?
climbing into bed and closing your eyes?
perhaps you are aching from hours on your feet?
or maybe you're desperate for something to eat?
I'm sure being overworked is something you hate,
but shouldn't you leave that at the hospital gate?
I lay here riddled with cancer, moaning in pain
wondering if you care or if I'm a drain.
I wonder if a kind hand will take mine in care,
or if I will be met with a cold stony glare.
I know you don't have time to sit by me a while,
but would it really be too much to flash me a smile?
When you come with charts and machines to inspect
is it too much to ask that you show me respect?
I know you're all human and that you feel too,
but it isn't my fault you have so much to do.
Please don't excuse yourself with the woes of your day,
I'm scared and I'm hurting as life fades away.
I spent my life teaching with compassion and care,
but this cancer it grips me, I've nothing to spare.
Some of you have the most beautiful of hearts,
but the lottery of care, it tears me apart -
I worry if a smile is the last thing I'll see
or if you'll be looking at your watch, instead of at me.
I'm probably not you're first and I won't be your last,
but I'm the only me, present, future and past.
The life I have lived is fading; death hangs overhead,
Fill my last days with kindness, for soon I'll be dead.
So return to your training, your core values, be aware
are you the nurse with the kind touch or the cold stony glare?
Jun 26, 2013
Jun 26, 2013 at 5:48 PM UTC
Overrated ******** cheap bitter whine out of mouths of overworked undereducated individuals searching for achievement
Family nosing into business of other family they don't even speak to but need to know who's better off or worse off so most keep in touch for fake reasons
Friends claiming to be friends even though Bobby slept with Joe's sister Kim when Kim had a baby by Bobby's cousin Jim who's sister beat the *** of that ***** Karley for sharing a photo they were in
In a relationship today because you love to watch the haters hate but make 27 statuses about how ****** ain't **** and how you're 3 months late
Hypocritical comments followed by one hundred twenty seven likes
attached to a photo of a kid that died thirteen years ago twice
but to send a prayer or save a life all you have to do is click
LIKE.
I hardly remember the world before
I wonder what the world will be after
Facebook[.]
May 19, 2014
May 19, 2014 at 3:03 AM UTC
The sun had died down
but he remained.
Smoke filled his lungs,
his breathing was strained.
December had come,
with the wind, both menacing and cold
but he stood like an oak,
unwilling to fold.
His muscles moved like an overworked machine,
his mind was drifting
to the past;
his wife's warm welcome; his children's soft singing.
He continued his endeavour
till the early morn,
then returned home,
to be met with scorn.
Her face was red and her dress was stained.
He looked at her, her words filled his head,
''You don't appreciate what I do, not a word of thanks.''
He did, but he nodded and left them unsaid.
It was his turn to care for the kids,
get them dressed and ready for school.
He fell asleep this time,
his wife thought him a fool.
He filled the fridge, paid the bills.
He had endured,
to see their smiling faces
and their good health assured.
He didn't mind and he never complained
that no words of praise ever passed his ears,
they were his drive,
and his sole purpose was to ease their worries and fears.
Nov 16, 2012
Nov 16, 2012 at 2:45 PM UTC
Machine ground days
Somehow survived by clinging to precarious plans
Die for those.
For proles are stuck in a televised gleam
but I’m barred from distractions
I’m a man of action
Spring healing:
I found a new hope to get through the day
It has a name and it’s you
Workday: animistic curses
against people and their systems and products
except animals would escape forever
as soon as they open the cage
but we stay
The beastly gnashings of overworked merchandisers
for invisible self pocket stuffers
The competition's getting to us, comrades
I feel swindled out of my labor
I was pregnant
but they sold my child before
I woke up
Addressing the solipsism of my rehab circle:
I’m Kagey, and my life is hazy
but, blunted or no, let’s get this clear:
don’t trust your senses
and that goes for all my human peers
Body is a cage full of defenses
Still, I’m suspicious of reality
whether it’s façade society
or the wooden chair in front of me
Still, I enjoy the virtual scenery
I ain’t talking about on the T.V. or phone screen
I mean the willows, buildings, and faces
But all these mushy green acres are fakers
blobs without our eyesight
Still tho,
me and the universe are tight.
Sep 2, 2014
Sep 2, 2014 at 8:00 AM UTC
Do you see her?
There with the hair with side parting.
Do you know how much she have been hurting?
I've been watching her,
Everyday she puts on her makeup and smile,
She's been doing that for a while.
There's something she's hiding,
Those eyes tell something else,
Especially when there's no one else.
I've heard she said sorry once,
Sorry if she's boring them,
She was talking anxiously but stop in middle.
Like somewhere in her mind that being her is just too much.
At the end of each day,
There's something different than when she came,
It's like the whole day she's just struggling to survive.
Being overworked trying to show how she's alive.
Outside the public world,
Her life is not quite alright,
Those circles under her eyes were not overnight,
And those coffees were always the lightest roast ; Burnt not even a slight.
-HIY
Aug 27, 2016
Aug 27, 2016 at 9:05 PM UTC
You are the elixir
of overworked men
a companion
for lonely souls
and a boxing ring
for the fighting spirit
Your camaraderie
leads to immediate
regret
but such pain
forces peace
in the new day
Mar 26, 2022
Mar 26, 2022 at 1:26 PM UTC
I felt her presence,
hovering over my grave like a mothers last prayers
Like a fathers burning sorrows after thirty years drunk
Alone she stood, framed against the soft blowing trees,
and the dancing wildflowers that were placed as an ode to the dead
She held orange petals to herself,
close to her chest, as if to let them hear a heartbeat,
but the ear of a flower only picks up meaningful noises,
not the slow tempo of a withered muscle,
overworked from exhaustion
She wore black, knee high leather boots,
and a matching jacket
Her hair was wild, and she looked *****
She smelled of ***** and no showers,
cigarettes and sweat and blood
She looked of regret,
and her eyes sang tunes of pessimism
Anxiously she removed the bright flowers from her *****
Poppies, by the look of it
She presented them to the face of my headstone,
cracked and eroded with age, my name barely recognizable
Left with nothing, her fingers went to her short blonde hair,
matted and encrusted with dirt
She ran her hands nervously throughout, eyes constantly distracted
Suddenly, she focused hard on the headstone
A tear fell from her eye, and I watched it soak into the concrete
Her lips moved in familiar shapes, but words were lost to me
Every word
But one
A name
Abigail
And she turned away, walking crookedly into the wind and rain
And though I know she was talking to me,
I could feel the name on her lips, see it in her eyes
She scratched the insides of her arms as she disappeared from sight,
and I felt a longing in my own
"I walked away from myself that day. I gave it all up for hope. I guess this just goes to show what it's worth. Maybe I'll understand it one day, but for now, I am dead to everyone including myself."
Abigail Hollow
Jan 1992 - Aug 2008
A loving daughter, sister and poet.
Jul 30, 2014
Jul 30, 2014 at 5:52 PM UTC
We walk among hero’s every day.
And they are recognised,
But not nearly enough.
They all fight on the same team,
They don’t always have the same uniforms,
But they fight for you, out of love.
They get paid sure, just about,
But it doesn’t keep them there,
It’s their compassion.
They suffer long hours, and bad pay,
Overworked, overwhelmed,
Something we need to refashion.
Yet they continue, fighting for your health,
Mending wounds, treating disease,
Doing their all, doing what they can.
They do it with a smile, a friendly face,
They do it agile, and with grace,
Yet they’re just human, not Superman.
They’re on the frontline, hands on,
They’re behind the scenes,
Each a cog, in a massive machine.
But this machine is built by living parts,
And they’re breaking more and more,
Physically, emotionally, everything in between,
Yet they carry on.
They continue to fight.
A battle never won.
Recognised and praised,
These are our heroes,
Recognised, revered, yet still unsung.
Feb 5, 2024
Feb 5, 2024 at 5:59 AM UTC
Three hearts for thee divided,
Lust battles with duty for attention,
Making waves that drowned your cries,
Yet you persisted.
Three loves became one,
Your heart the sole victor,
To you go the spoils,
And yet you persisted.
One heart's love is yours entire,
Overworked and overwhelming,
Wounded soldiers make terrible bedmates,
And yet you persist.
Jul 10, 2014
Jul 10, 2014 at 3:57 AM UTC
In department store foyers, free samples sprayed,
A collision of cosmetics muddle the air.
The olfactory overpowered by such obvious odours,
Why do natural notes disconcert you?
Not the gym heavy sodden or overworked,
Recognition of an individual, whilst eyes remain shut.
Faint trace of the familiar or frenzied pheromones,
A headiness misplaced by the cologne wearing clones
Preference for the perfumed, the artificial sweetener.
Marketed meticulously
Musk manufactured yet not made by man
Of flowers dear, of oils and compounds.
Fresh, fruity, citrus or spiced
Artificial aromas keep your own scent disguised
Society simulates this sophistication of the senses,
Masking yourself from me as you are wooed,
Accustomed to this attraction, till you let down your defences
How shall I know you when you are ****
Oct 30, 2012
Oct 30, 2012 at 6:10 PM UTC
sadly
it's the broken toys
who were played
to the
core
the broken toys
were overworked
overused
but the toys
did not
know
that they were overused
because they
were loved.
m.g.
Mar 18, 2014
Mar 18, 2014 at 11:25 AM UTC
Stressed mother to overwhelmed son,
“You look really tired today”
Overwhelmed son to stressed mother,
“I just haven’t been able to sleep well lately, but I am okay”
Empty beer bottle to overwhelmed son’s mouth,
You will drink me until you cannot feel anything else,
Cigarette ad to overwhelmed son,
It would be so easy for you to love my smoke again,
Overwhelmed son,
“I will get through this, even if it kills me one day”
Overworked father to overwhelmed son,
“You haven’t left your bed besides work, and even when you come home, the first thing you do is go to bed, and I am worried about you”
Overwhelmed son to overworked father,
“I just haven’t been able to sleep well lately, but I am okay”
*I just haven’t been able to sleep well lately,
But I am okay*
Education to overwhelmed son,
Your debt is heavier than the world and you will be paying for the things you haven’t learned for the rest of your life,
Overwhelmed son,
Everything is as heavy as the world, and I will break and get crushed until my body is sand on the beaches of the oceans I’ll never get the chance to visit
When I was 5 years old I visited Disney World, and the fireworks there burned brighter than anything I had ever seen before,
When I was 16 years old, I was burning bridges and cigarettes until I could no longer cross relationships and friendships and no amount of nicotine could make my lungs happy enough
But I will slip, and I will still burn, and I will never learn how to swim, and my lungs stopped knowing happiness when I breathed in anxiety and exhaled depression,
When I stopped breathing in oxygen and replaced it with fire, when I stopped exhaling full breaths and started exhaling as little as I could,
I don’t want to pass out, I want to keep as much as I can because I know I will never get it back
And I will be alone in this because I have forgotten how to trust,
And I will live like this until I can no longer trust myself
Overwhelmed son to worried mother and father,
“I just haven’t been able to sleep well lately, but I am okay”
I just haven’t been able to sleep well lately, but I am okay
Sep 10, 2018
Sep 10, 2018 at 6:33 PM UTC
burdened with the weight of it all,
the camel stops and lies
in the middle of the desert
the man driving the herd--
the herd that's laden
with tired, overworked
camels, walks toward the downtrodden
offender with his arm outstretched
and in his palm, sat a pistol--
then, he hesitates--
as he stares into the eyes of
the camel--
deeply--
intrigued--
but beyond that,
he felt a sense of calm, which
soon turned sour--
everything turns sour
he gazed into the dark abyss
of the pistol
turned it toward his temple
and pulled the trigger
all the camels scattered--
except the one lying down
he placed his head in the sand,
then slept
in memory of
the
fallen
herder
Oct 27, 2010
Oct 27, 2010 at 1:26 PM UTC
I'm a greet-you-and-meet-you professional
I get straight to the point and don't mess around.
I'll ask you how your day is,
If you found everything okay-
And if you prefer paper or plastic.
Like a superhero from a comic strip-
I'm out to make you smile in five minutes
or less.
I have the super power
To turn you away from your favorite alcoholic beverage
Or turn you on-
It all depends if you can pass the test,
the secret code to a top secret nuke shelter-
No pass, no go.
I'm like a greeting card,
Everyday; a new message.
Sometimes I'll hear about the weather,
Other times,
I'll hear intimate details which I really don't care about-
But I'll pretend I do...
Things like-
What you're having for supper,
How much wine your sister likes to drink
Or the fact that you make the best homemade sauce.
I'll get to know you the more I see you,
And like an app on your smart phone,
I'll remind you to come again.
I'll see your kids at their worst-
Moments their grandparents don't get to see.
I'll learn about your financial status,
Your marital status,
Or the fact that you don't have a status at all.
I'll take all of your complaints
And sometimes pass them someone else-
I'll hear all your requests like an overworked DJ
And if you're lucky...
Your wish will be granted.
I am a food slinger,
A cash ringer,
A handle-your-food winner,
I am grocery store cashier.
Jan 6, 2013
Jan 6, 2013 at 5:33 AM UTC
Adamantly indifferent
To a life lead without happiness
Letting time pass by unappreciated
As if that is what it is meant for
Dec 3, 2014
Dec 3, 2014 at 4:58 PM UTC
Don't criticize, don't criticize that man
For enjoying something you deem a waste of time
Let him have something for himself
In our petty little lives
There is nothing keeping us going
Taking care of a wife and children
That is the only duty he is obliged to
Mother and wife must give up her life
Once that child is born
There is no greater purpose than for her to see that child through
The only thing giving them hope
Is the love hanging by a thread
And when there is no faith hope tends to snap
Don't criticize, don't criticize them
For seeming different than you
Let them have something for themselves
If it means keeping them alive
Working double shifts,
Overworked and underpaid
Her hands are always in pain
And you dare snare at her
Because she doesn't dress as well as you
Never home and undernourished
He is only trying to provide for his home
By being at work day and night
Feeding himself is only secondary to the hunger of his child
Don't criticize, don't criticize me
For being wrong, I will fall down to my knees
Let me have something for myself
If it means keeping me alive
Jan 17, 2011
Jan 17, 2011 at 6:58 AM UTC
Overworked they say
Is it true I'm hurting myself
Take a break they say
But I'm already in so far
It'll get worse she says
I can handle it, right. Right?
Apr 14, 2015
Apr 14, 2015 at 11:49 PM UTC
Cumulonimbus smudged over sunlight
with dolphin grey
thumbprint
No clouds here, just 10 million
orange midnight suns
we're talking late
'til heavy eyelids drag us groundward.
This city seeps and trickles down
to sleep in groundwater
wet-haired, waking, throbbing sunrise
cased in eyes half-closed.
At most, we hoped.
At best, we strove.
At worst, we overworked ambitions
wanting, waiting, watching closely 'til
5 ticks until alarms.
At least we slept awhile...
Sep 7, 2013
Sep 7, 2013 at 2:13 AM UTC
Maybe I should even try to both be
the sooner you'll get rid of feedback because they're all
Sometimes I should sing most when my state of mind
Not in a set of cards with yoga pose instructions I'm currently going
I'm tired and beautiful and cute
I'm tired and bored out
...
Oh yeah I need all
People are somewhat murky and shallow in order to show you
WHY DO something
I'm tired of *being a ****** person.*
...
It's really don't wanna impose anything.... But anybody want
...
I'm tired and conflicted.
Ugh I've been wondering about for ice cream to attempt to message certain people
Uck. It say
...
I really don't know
never thought I'd hate for the person
Sometimes I feel and smell of things to do
That's not an ice is weighing me
It's really painful most of the base of personal information about me, or going
...
But eating shrimp feels weirdly like
...
No, everything is predestined to die from embarrassment and/or maybe guilt. But it's just like
That magical feminist is running the only have you
You have a finger at getting people
...
My staircase is bizarrely comfortable to everything ever
Aluk op oal ilcä aäcij ulrü cujy ulsu wäsyn cujy rincy cyykky cujy ürsäüpyu ipuincy kurky jü siij urir cu lina uij rüyl opam suasäcij kyäc kuläypincy di.
That magical feminist is the stuff
Apr 16, 2015
Apr 16, 2015 at 1:41 AM UTC
against my face and ears.
Forever pummeling the
inflections across my jaw
like a teacher who is overworked
and underloved.
Oct 20, 2012
Oct 20, 2012 at 6:05 PM UTC
Coffee first thing,
better make it a double
for the morning rush
and that train that expects me.
Closing eyes on the journey
trying to accumulate
another micro minute of
peace
maybe the silence kept me all night,
with ideas on how to change.
Or I'm overworked by the drive
that will buy an escape to freedom.
We closed our eyes
as it's too depressing to see,
too numbing to watch,
but if hearing is the last sense hanging on
then announce on our speaker
that today is not just another,
that there is something different,
something hopeful
to come back out of our heads from.
let us feel more
I feel like screaming,
maybe to cause some confusion,
so an emotion creates something
other than familiarity.
Yet more papers turn
as the melancholy deepens,
unconscious
or 20:20
the train doors open anyway,
to close,
as though destiny decided to accept
waiting.
Just for a few more stops anyway
Tapping on phones in disconnectedness,
engaging away from that moment
as blinking just don't know where to be
sitting facing such strangers.
Nobody look at me!
fingertips planning movements
of where One shall have to be,
when these doors of limbo re-open.
Where are all those travellers!
I walk behind,
a que of single file
and with every step
I long to run through
and against this one way system,
possibly naked
to provoke a smile
if I'm lucky
But the moment isn't opportune
I guess I will do it one day
On a day I will swear
that I will never feel enslaved
by the weight
of obligation gripping my sole.
Marching up stairs
with images of arrows,
follow this direction
is the wrong kind of sign
Steps continue upward
as though a continuous metaphor.
And soon I'll take my chances.
Aug 20, 2012
Aug 20, 2012 at 8:52 PM UTC
.
Meet me for a pint after work.
Take me through the days, weeks, or months
We've neglected ourselves -
Overworked and inebriated respectively.
You've never been without a job -
But don't neglect a word.
Take utmost care through the moments
That define your time: The trials, troubles,
And metamorphic events which reframe
Your view of the world, or your relationship with it.
Tell me about the ones who make it easy.
We'll allow time for the detail.
Your moments constitute a vicarious roadmap;
A means to improve my world.
In return I can offer up a Dublin dinner:
The best advice I've never followed,
My sincere admiration,
And a proper pint of Guinness.
.
Mar 5, 2019
Mar 5, 2019 at 6:29 PM UTC