Unplugged

Unplugged

I am missing from the rest of the world
Unplugged without a purpose
Jobless person of no value
Hands gone idle and empty
It’s not for a lack of trying
Applications fly fast as paper airplanes
Only to be shot down
So frequently
Only the stars in the night sky
Can be counted more numerous.

I am an island rippling in becalmed sea
Where waves no longer roll
The tide has shifted silent
Hiring managers are blind
My existence a rejection letter
Waiting to be written
An afterthought of insignificance
A notch for no one’s belt
Better luck next time
A closed door left behind me.

I am a message in a bottle abandoned
As the universe turns and turns
Oceans of people swirl around me
As I try to make my way
Without work and a wage
Searching is hard labor
Shackling tired feet
Running in futile motion
Makes me very sad
As loneliness leaves me, too.

I am stubborn as the day is long
Necessity means no choice
Waking up to morning
Raises only the sun
With my urge to succeed
My resume goes door to door
Through electronic halls
Hope walks as an orphan
Strolling until I find
Someone to invite me in.

Copyright © 2023 Charles Edward York
No part of this poem may be used or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any way or form or by any means electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise without the written permission of the author.*