A Quark of A Different Spin. (adameros) wrote,
A Quark of A Different Spin.
adameros

I heard a poem on the radio, the show was The Writers Almanac.

The Escape by Charles Bukowski from Sifting Through the Madness for the Word, the Line, the Way (Ecco Press).

listen, he said, you ever seen a bunch of crabs in a bucket?
no, I told him.
well, what happens is that now and then one crab
will climb up on top of the others
and begin to climb toward the top of the bucket,
then, just as he's about to escape
another crab grabs him and pulls him back down.
really? I asked.
really, he said, and this job is just like that, none
of the others want anybody to get out of
here. that's just the way it is
in the postal service!
I believe you, I said.

just then the supervisor walked up and said,
you fellows were talking.
there is no talking allowed on this job.

I had been there for eleven and one-half years.

I got up off my stool and climbed right up the supervisor
and then I reached up and pulled myself right out of there.

it was so easy it was unbelievable.
but none of the others followed me.

and after that, whenever I had crab legs
I thought about that place.
I must have thought about that place
maybe 5 or 6 times

before I switched to lobster.

Damn, how I have felt that way about many places I have work. Now I wish I was a well paid crab again. Anyway, I enjoyed the poem, and thought I would share. :-)
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