Arguments at Work

On break at work they divide
the good and the bad, the more
and the less, and wear them like
epaulettes. Work is the more and
the good–farm work, you
couldn’t do it. You’d keel over.
Graveyard shift and lifting freight
hung over on a mouthful of sleep.

They stand the quarterbacks up in rows
and rank them by good and bad
before they bother with in between.

They talk about the moral fortitude
of pizzas and prices and usually
end on an uneasy truce.

I’ve heard bars stood up
to one another and wrecked together
with a crash of glasses and chairs.

When break ends, we go back to work
with all our small preferences
shining with a new identity.