Clocking Out

By Joy Perry, Contributing Writer

Arrive here

Ten minutes before eight.

Joke, laugh

But don’t be too great.

Go to my desk

Type and make calls

Go on lunch and make my bites small

Smile

Talk

Go back to work

Type

Make a call

And clock out at work.

I lock the car door. A sigh rushes out of me

I can’t move a beat. My day has stiffened me.

Now to go home and watch old shows

Nothing can comfort me like my couch back home

It holds me in like a tomb holds a man

And is just as reliable as a stone in the land.

I adjust my car mirror and what do I see

Two pair of eyes staring back at me

Though I’m afraid to say

it wasn’t my own

They were wide-eyed and wrinkled!

Rotten if you would like to know.

I start the car engine

It is wrong to linger

And I move to the beat with the cars on the street

And I stick my eyes where I won’t see deceit, I avoid my reflection

Impossible, I know

But I shield my eyes on any shiny surprise

And I gaze around where there's a reflective round.

But the morning has come!

It was all in my mind

How silly of me to play tricks on my eyes

But how strange is it when I come to see

That the bathroom light has put a spotlight on

Me?

I saw it in surprise. It was much more than my eyes!

My mouth! My lips! They were chipping away

My face was colored in blacks and greys

My nails were dirty. My hands eclipsed.

My neck was bruised and flaking to bits

Oh dear, my clothes! They were messed with too.

My grey pajamas have turned into a screw

Screwed onto my body like tape on a page

But what was holding it together was even more strange

Blood?

Blood!

Is that what I see?

Dripping off me

Through my soaked tee.

I stumbled away. There was nothing to see.

My hands, my clothes, they were fine to me.

Relief goes through me. A smile comes in

But not before I see the clock strike ten!

Ten! Ten! Two hours late!

Oh God! He’ll kill me

I’ve never been late.

Arrive here

10:30. “Gee, I’m late,” I say with a smile. It was supposed to be at eight! My boss. He’s yelling. Coworkers stare. I say I promise, “it’s the last time I swear!”

Go to my desk

Type and make calls

Then I see it, my reflection on the computer wall

I scream! I shout! I drop the call!

I can’t even worry about other people’s awes

I go on lunch, but instead of eating, I frantically ask if others see it.

I ignore their concern. I go back to work.

But my reflection has found me. I can’t even beat it.

I clock out. I can’t do it! I run away from their calls

I run away from my reflection that sits in it all.

I grab a pill. Two or three.

I don’t even remember, but I’m put at ease.

I wake up. I’m fresh, I’m feeling renewed

I walk to the bathroom. Daring and cool.

But nothing is there. I’m free from evil!

I laugh and dance. Smile and sway.

But a message from my boss stops me in my way

“Come in early. I need to see you. We need to talk.

It’s about that day.”

It’s all dandy and good. Nothing to fear.

I’ll just tell him it’s over and I’m feeling clear.

But when I get there, nothing is straight.

He’s annoyed and angry. I see it on his face.

But he doesn’t yell nor raise a foot.

He simply says, “You’re out for good.”

I see a shadow, stirring in the corner.

I pause in my seat like a ghost has passed

Who has come to stifle my life at last

The shadow! It comes! It moves to the light.

I recognize it instantly. I know it, alright.

My boss's voice booms. It fills the room

“Your role has been filled and I replaced it with you.”