Inventory

He wouldn't look at me when he took back the badge,

just stared at the corner of a gray, carpeted wall.

I felt like a ghost or a sudden, messy smudge

being wiped off the glass in the front entry hall.

I learned that my life fits in a single paper bag,

if you leave out the files and the company pen.

The pride that you carry is a heavy, ragged flag

that you have to fold up before you start over again.

I saw their logo today on the side of a bus,

and it felt like a name that I used to pronounce.

There’s a relief in the end of the 'them' and the 'us',

when you realize that the weight is the only thing that counts.