Corporate automaton

There is no cause for complaint,

Nor a folder in which to file one,

Should such a thing attempt to exist

No, there is only

Continuity

Head down, eyes blank

But for the blue-computer-screen shine

Reflected therein.

Tendons sliding smoothly

Beneath paper skin

Fingers flickering over the keyboard

Filling the silent void with empty clicks

The only shade of humanity;

the occasional hissed breath

Reflexive downward twitch

of nearly immobile lips

indicative of a scream

never to be uttered,

nor even imagined

by such a dedicated being

On the way to work..

Alight in the whirl

Swirling leaves dance

Dance around me in the frigid air,

Delighted by my delight.

And all the while..

I walk through the darkness,

The quiet, the night.

The night that is breaking to dawn,

But still holds the day away.

Holds it with a charming smile

And a shadowed heart,

The sinful art of leaving

While still, somehow, being there.

My footsteps echo

Get lost in the rustle of my coat.

Wary eyes watch the world

In case there is something

On the edges of perception

Waiting to be seen.