Work Sucks, But Do We? – Breakroom Poetry #3
I wrote one more poem about work.
They tell us to love what we do
as if love alone pays rent.
As if fulfillment can be bottled,
sold at a discount,
poured into the cracks of a system
that does not see us whole.
They tell us to be grateful,
to smile in the office kitchen,
to nod at our reflection in the bathroom mirror
like we have made peace
with the life we are spending in pieces.
What if we don’t?
What if we wake up tired,
sit in traffic tired,
stare at our screens tired,
and still blame ourselves
for the exhaustion?
And yet,
it is a privilege
to hate what you do.
To have the luxury of dreaming,
of asking what if,
when some people do not
get to ask at all.
So we sit with it.
The weight of knowing
this is not the life we wanted,
but it is the life we must live.
Maybe we'll figure it out tomorrow.
Ooft! This one really hit home for me, especially the lines about how it’s a privilege to hate what you do.