7 AM, coffee again

The fluorescent flickering

Drumming the beat of your latest migraine

 

Clothes on the floor, same as before

Pick up a shirt from the pile in the corner

A wrinkled relic of a night you half-forget

 

You curse the sun for sleeping in

As you crawl into your public skin

Your creature comforts fading

With the sight of unwashed dishes

And you’re halfway out the door

 

Waiting for the train, standing in the rain

See too late a forgotten umbrella

Your best defense from an awful morning

 

It’s no surprise, averted eyes

Everyone here’s a total stranger

Thrall to the rhythm of a life they can’t control

 

And what’s the time? Too numb to tell

You power on your pocket hell

The screen illuminating every line you’d never noticed

Only appearing when you frown

 

And your body knows you’ve been locked in a cycle

A rinse cycle, a sleep cycle

Everybody knows you here in purgatory

And they’ve all got the same story

If you make a run for it you will regret it

So you better just forget it

Your dreams will be waiting for you tonight

 

You throw your shirt back on the floor

So you know that you’ve worn it before

You hug a second pillow close

And wish that it was someone

You know you won’t dream tonight

 

7 AM, coffee again