looking out windows 80 stories up
you can see everything and see nothing from up here
interviewing for a job I don’t even want
suits and ties--long train rides into downtown
interview going smooth as the silk scarf she’s wearing
I tell the interviewer who is an attractive woman just a little older than me
(--a mrs. robinson thing here I'm thinking--)
that I used to work at a steel mill pourin’ hot orange
she purses her lips and says her ex-husband works at a steel mill
I feel like momentum just changed jerseys
the interview starts going downhill from there
she says they’ll call to let me know—they haven't yet
I’m still waiting by the phone 20 years later to hear from them
looking out a window in my living room
snow’s been coming down for hours now
it’s piling up maybe six or eight inches on the car in the driveway
the neighbor across the street is shoveling heart attack snow
honestly, I don’t think I’d go out and help him if he fell over
that’s not nice of me but I got my reasons
he’s got his driveway cleared now so he can get his car out
I hear a light roar coming and it’s getting louder now
it’s the snow plow plowing the streets and blocks his driveway with large chunks of snow
I can see him come out of his house cursing--I sit back laughing
I’ll wait until it’s dark quiet and starry to do my scraping
looking out a window six stories up in a hotel bayside
life is suddenly much less complicated with a water view
night falls and hard drinks go down hard with it
I’m in my room--beachside bars with bad cover bands ain’t my thing
look at the drawbridge not far away and watch it go up and down all night
green lights green lights green lights yellow lights red lights sailor sam passing through
on his 25 foot sailboat or whatever long and however it is
traffic over the bridge thinning out as it gets later
all those souls living their lives in anonymity to others living their lives watching them
I am the king of anonymity--the supreme commander of the army of the invisible
I don’t know no one, no one knows me, it’s better for all of us that way
