Terms Defined and Functions Made Clear
Ornate desk
Overheated office.
Accountant.
Pencil.
Plus him. Plus me.
Desk
office
accountant –
all of them his.
Pencil?
Oh, it belongs to his accountant.
Me?
He said to me:
You’ve gotten what you wanted
so we’re square right now
His accountant chews the pencil and nods.
I’ll collect the final payment at a future date
His accountant sets down the pencil.
11/22/19
11/25/19
From Unpredictable Hue, 2019.
TGI Tuesday
Everyone around me was slurping down a
quick coffee
or snorting out a phone conversation full of laughs
or doing some other time-wasting thing and me too
because
I was skim-reading a couple of pages in a magazine
the cover filled up with two good-looking
well-groomed people
grinning mouthfuls of teeth and who
you just knew it
would be throwing kisses at the photographer
one second after this photo was taken and
I was wondering
what it would be like to be those people
just go around throwing kisses and
getting my picture taken
Just snapping my gleaming choppers at any and all
and I don’t know why I’m telling you
but everyone is doing it
wasting time I mean and enjoying it and laughing and
let’s get some more coffee! and later on
we’ll go back to our desks and push a little paper –
chew on a pen – untwist some paper clips
the small installments we have to pay
for this five-day-a-week party
more real to us than anything else in life
going on here Floor 21 Great Big Office Tower
and super news! today is only Tuesday!
10/1/18
From the collection Unpredictable Hue, 2019.
Start From Here Not Here
Pushing a cart full of cardboard boxes
along the bumpy sidewalk
in the heat. The woman
slides her sweaty hands over the handle
to make the turn into the building
the boxes sway the cartwheels squeal
the woman grunts the cart moves but
no one really seems to want to go
It’s such a lot of aggravation
for not too much of anything but
someone in that building wants those boxes and
that someone will get those boxes
in good shape on time and take it for granted.
The woman brings out the empty cart
sets it on the sidewalk where
relieved of their burden the two of them go
moving lithe down the sidewalk while
the woman hums under her breath
and the cart wheels sing.
Sometimes it’s easier than you think
to make pleasure out of
not too much of anything.
9/6/18
9/12/18
From the collection published in 2017, Refuge.
No Phone Is Ringing and We Have No Paperwork to Do
Crazy busy we’re not
don’t want to be
never wanted it.
I like the look of you.
Sit down here.
Pass a little time with us.
3/31/17
From Clean Canvas, 2018.
Other End of the Line
On the other end of the line
I have no idea
but I’d guess
could be request for interview
I gather from
this end of the conversation
that I’m eavesdropping on
I hear
young
female
blond hair in a topknot ponytail
green hoodie
speaking into the phone
and lacking presence
is all I can say
Note of uncertainty
could be nerves but
it would put me off if I were
thinking of offering her a job
but
well
I’m not. Good luck on the interview
I think
wondering how I sounded
forty years ago
other end of the line
to the person who offered me
my first job?
2/22/18
From Clean Canvas, published 2018.
Maybe Was in the Air or Something
Worked there for a couple of years
until I lost patience with it and them and
the whole thing
felt like I’d been caught and escaped
and I don’t know why
the pay was good
a wicked-acting set of gals on the floor
doing a little teasing and joking around
hilarious
plenty of room for promotion or slacking off
take your pick
I got along fine
No room for doubt
I hated the place.
I don’t know why.
2/15/18
From Rearrange, 2018.
It’s a Social Kind of Job
The clerk seemed only too anxious to please
the person he was chatting with over my head
– I mean the guy behind me in the check-out line –
giving me the wrong change
resenting the interruption when I asked for a recount
I almost admired the discreet way he rolled his eyes.
I can only conclude that a middle-aged lady
is not as interesting to a teenager
as another teenager
But what I am is polite. I thanked him
removing my bags of groceries
moving down the counter
making room for him to
high-five the outstretched hand
speed up the talk
and start in on some laughing and joking
with his friend
I did not stop at the manager’s office
to complain.
I worked
as a cashier
when I was a teenager
too.
12/28/17
From Redirection, published in 2017.
Haiku Group Office Talk
i.
So I didn’t know
if somebody kept a file
If they did it’s fine.
ii.
I’ll meet you halfway
There will always be issues
See, that’s what happens
iii.
So, you’re kind of sure
if anybody throws stones
I’ll meet you out there
iv.
OK, it’s a stretch
there’s so little to go on
Do me a favor
v.
It’s part and parcel,
not that I want a big fuss
Take it off my hands
vi.
I may, later on
I’m assimilated here
for the time being
vii.
what I could do is
billing the escrow at once
so it would be fixed
viii.
Settle things next week
it’s a separate question
I can’t answer it.
8/10/17
(from bits of office conversation, 8/9/17)
From Enough for a Book, published in 2016.
Runaway
Open the door
to the street and I slip out
into the water. Swimming hard.
The fierce sun beats down on my back
the steady hum in my ears never ceases
guiding me
my toes find the sand I wade I turn and push off
the sidewalk again the traffic having no interest in me
the rip current bored by my insignificant size
drops me on my toes now clad in
size eight modest-heel-height black pumps
to match my linen summer suit and
pearl earrings. I run my hand over my wet hair
as a gust of cold air beckons me back inside
after my lunch break.
6/21/16
From Refuge, published in 2017.
Essential Content
You told me
Life story
Worked construction
no pension
couldn’t afford to save
and now here I work
building maintenance and is it fair
to be on call and not paid for it?
Is it even legal?
you said.
3/17/17
Claudia McGill Writes Poetry, Did You Know That? 
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