Working Man Blues

When I’m working

feather in hand
remarkable paintings in head
and squall in cheek

then I am
most myself

When I fail
and am idle

stuck to carpet
face dirty as an old bone
dog-torn under a sparse hedge

I become the bad doll
in the chest of forbidden toys
Unsafe sharp arms
and a missing topknot

No one wants to play with me

The hard part of all this
is that when I’m down
I can’t pull the together out of me

alone

but who wants to see me
like this

When I’m working
I’m magnet happy
I’m covered with faces smooching
and all the happy lips make me wet
and then I want to dry off

But dry and slow
stopped in my track
I’m not sweet

Smelly old man
stay home alone

and who wants me for a co-worker
when I’m so lazy it seems
I can do nothing

someone stick a feather in my hand
and open up my mouth
move the jaws around

or at least come over
and talk to me
while I’m down on the floor