bout de papier, Vol. 8, No. 2 (1991) — Spring 1991 // Printemps 1991, p. 35
The conversation beside me was very intense.
Sipping their cafeteria-swill coffee
voices low, leaning forward, brows furrowed
they talked of increasing tension, worry, stress.
“Do you feel it too?” I heard one ask.
God yes! I wanted to shout, I worry:
will my urgent memo to the Minister
come back a fourth time for redrafting;
can I meet the deadline for those briefs;
is my work creative, innovative;
will I be promoted this decade;
to say nothing of my mortgage, repairs
to aging car, my neighbour’s dirty dog.
What about you?
“I worry,” I heard one say,
that Gorbachev won’t pull it off. The wall
came down too soon.”
I’m glad there are those
who worry about important matters.
That thought will console me at midnight
as I struggle with the damn computer.
But I worry the department don’t care!
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 8, No. 2 (1991) — Spring 1991 // Printemps 1991, p. 35. Read the rest of this issue →
