Productivity at work

The delete button is my enemy 

he chews away at my phrases

and laughs as he swallows my words

My pinky is drawn to him 

they do a silly dance 

tapping away, my thumb fights with the space bar 

trying to regain some ground

I’m caught here on this blank page

in two-dimensional space

as if I’ve been steamrolled

my nose pressed back against my cheek

lips curled inwards

a cartoon, a beast

My thoughts are fragile as butterfly wings

connected by spiders’ webs

they catch and stick together in a jumbled mess

I peel them apart like clothes from my skin after a rain storm

Happiness eludes me, though I chase her tirelessly

She flies through the window in the morning

and out the door before I’ve brushed my teeth

She is the reflection who sits with me as I ride the train to work

Pale, transparent

There and yet not

Me and yet someone else

Overcaffeinated salesmen surround me

typing furiously on their keyboards

yelling into their cellphones

My delete button calls to my pinky

Another afternoon is wasted