Job Title: Sisyphean Punishment

Society’s waste

a paper ball thrown to the bin

but instead of landing softly in,

I bounce and sit next to it,

not even able

to be disposed of.

The last kid picked

for the school dodgeball game

I'm allowed to participate 

And hide in the back ranks

And yet there is time

ample of wine

and coffee swine

to down and drown

the applications sent

interviews rehearsed

thank you emails

met with stinging silence

The torture is in 

the repetition.

A Greek punishment

not of blood

but daily monotony

roll the stone

refresh LinkedIn

rebuild hope

only to collapse

under its weight again

They say

enjoy these days

before you’re ball and chained

to the dreams of another

But beneath it all

a dragon stirs

hunting my own heartbeat.

Do I play the damsel

to be saved by a job title?

Or do I face the dragon head on

seize its spine

and steer it

toward my blue sky?