Work Shirt
Last night I came home from work and
passed out in my work shirt, and therefore
woke up in my work shirt, and since I woke
for work, I kept my work shirt on.
When I came home from work tonight,
you can imagine how relieved I was to take
my work shirt off. Tonight, I will sleep a
blissful eight-hour sleep in the nude, only to
awake to put my work shirt on and head back
to work.
Oh, wait! Tomorrow is my day off. I
won't wear my work shirt. I'll wash my work
shirt instead.
What could I write now that is true?
I am tired
I am broke
I am hungry
(have been hungry for days
but have been too ashamed to admit it
because my spouse has no appetite
so it makes me feel ashamed that I do).
Here’s what happens when you are poor and you are starving:
you spend most of your time thinking about how you are poor and you are starving.
When you’re out of tampons
out of cash
maxed out on credit
but happen to have a roll of paper towels at home
be thankful.
Be thankful for the convenient half-sheet tears
that fold up so nicely into a pantyliner.
Kirby Chen Mages
Kirby Chen Mages is a writer and interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles. She is the recipient of the Elizabeth Kray Poetry Prize and she currently attends Antioch University's Low-Residency MFA program, where she is Lead Editor in Translation for Antioch's literary journal, Lunch Ticket.