One Hustle

My spine’s 
snake-curved and achy
after a bad night 
on an old mattress.

If someone saw me
from outside and didn’t
know this, they’d say
my walk to the bathroom
seems so casual, so slow;

don’t be fooled.
My pace has less to do with
urgency and more to do with
inability to hustle right now.

Coffee, then Aleve,
and then to work.
It’s a routine, a job,
one hustle I can maintain
and must maintain
and do maintain

as all the rest of my hustle
falls out of me
onto these hard floors
without so much as 
a bounce.