What They Liked Most About Me Was My Caution Poem by Raj Dronamraju

They sucked hard upon the midday sun
The train tracks and the stunned shoulder
The pick axe wielded by the unthinking in the service of Molloch
The tattoo and the imprint of work that has to be done

Done in darkness, on an office voice mail
"What I've always liked about you is your caution"
And among the customers who materialize like phantoms and then dematerialize again

Pocahontas led us nowhere
Slew the devil where he slept
Crawled on top of the model worker's skull like malevolent lice

I stomached the depletion of youth
And the fairy tale of structured middle class living
Where the dragon lies, there is no comfort in restraint

Caution should have been left behind in obedience school
Proven like a contract inked in the theft of time
Later cannibalize your toil for a pittance