Broken Light Switch
written by: John Grochalski
@JohnGrochalski
i try
to tell the super
about the broken light switch
how it’s being held together with tape
but he’s outside
throwing chinese poppers
with his russian mafia buddies
when i knock
on his door
his pregnant wife
looks at me like i’m satan
i try
to tell the super
about the broken light switch
the outlets hanging off the wall
the faulty toilet
and the clogged-up sink
but he’s off hiding in tangier
i look around the apartment
at the cracked ceiling
and busted kitchen floor
think about how i’m living no better
than i did twenty years go
how i’ll probably have this broken light switch at fifty
i try
to tell the super
about age and misery
how i should’ve become
a plumber or an electrician
instead of a public servant
about all of
those wasted years
on aesthetics and art
but the super is at his second job
slaving like the rest of us
to pay his bills
and his rent
fixing broken light switches
for someone else
left sitting there musing their futility
in the shadows and the dark.
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