Self-Employed – David Ignatow

[1914–1997, American]

For Harvey Shapiro

I stand and listen, head bowed,   
to my inner complaint.
Persons passing by think
I am searching for a lost coin.   
You’re fired, I yell inside
after an especially bad episode.   
I’m letting you go without notice   
or terminal pay. You just lost   
another chance to make good.
But then I watch myself standing at the exit,   
depressed and about to leave,   
and wave myself back in wearily,   
for who else could I get in my place   
to do the job in dark, airless conditions?

Source:  Ignatow, D 1993, 'Self-Employed', Against the Evidence: Selected Poems 1934-1994, Wesleyan University Press.