Terms and Conditions

The fluorescent tubes are buzzing like a hive of angry bees

while I am sitting quietly with paper on my knees.

We’ve traded all the shouting for a lawyer’s dry decree,

a list of all the things that I am letting go for free.

I took the cheap blue ballpoint and I tried to make my mark,

but the ink ran dry and stuttered like a match without a spark.

I had to scratch the plastic tip to make the letters flow,

a desperate, jagged scrawl to let the whole damn building know.

I shook his hand and felt the grit of victory and shame,

realizing that the winning side feels very much the same.

It taught me how a person breaks without a single sound,

just a slow and steady settling of the spirit to the ground.