deepundergroundpoetry.com

$5.08 (song)

[verse 1]
I'm gonna beg someone to kill me
if I gotta drop feet back in that building
for one more day (!)
of breakin' back for minimum wage
and one more taste
of counting down the hours to eight...

I no think, I monkey cashier:
I make change while sitting stagnant;
I wear my name
and khakis; yeah, the issue is drastic -
I watch waste
accumulate in paper and plastic...

and the context is,
I didn't wanna be young
and get my sleep
from the people with the old tongues:

[chorus 1]
Old men, sick jokes, smoke breaks, slow tokes,
broke-back plus tax; askin' 'bout the price tag -
I hate "That will be $5.08,
sir, is that all for you today?"
and "How are you - just fine - yourself - alright"
Don't meet my eyes, I'm aching for the sunshine! -
"Thank you, have a wonderful day, and
I hope
you choke on your change."

[verse 2]
They pay me for sudoku and daydreams
and similar games like "feel the youth you're wasting."
My god damned brain -
I think I feel the synapses pruning...
Is this back pain
or a steady motivational bruising...?

Well, the context is
that youth is such a proud word,
and mine gets hissed
from here behind the counter! -

[chorus 2]
I'm over it, over-priced, ice cups, no ice,
eyes tired, head wired, cool until you get fired -
"Okay, that will be $5.08,
anything else for you today?"
Cigarettes, mood swings, country till my ears bleed;
deadlines, confines, romanticize the daylight,
"Thank you, have a wonderful day, and
I hope
you choke on your change."

[bridge/ending(?)]
To the customers that throw full drinks in trash cans:
Fuck you and thanks for the coffee on my pants

and for the extra hour to smell like this...
(Satan would pray to flee a hell like this.)
- and of this petty prison,
this second-crawling, self-elision:
cash tobacco; the universe is macro-
but I'm stuck here with the work-day backbone.


~

As a teenager with a summer job, I have a certain perspective on how I've chosen to spend my free time. This song is a bit wordy and rhythmic. Its musical interpretation allows it to flow and better convey such a perspective. When this is recorded, I will upload the audio.

Anyways. I hope I have given a voice to the frustrations of many a gas station employee.
Written by rowantree
Published
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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