Expense Reports

by Nick Jaina

I've been losing sleep over
goddamned expense reports
I fill them out with red ink
and I pray to God it doesn't matter
all the treble turned up loud
the concrete saints and beaming proud
and I am falling asleep or in love

I've been walking circles
over our expensive lawn
I pull out the weeds but
I'm not sure why they're not supposed to live
I call up my ex-girlfriends
just to hear if they have breath left
I used to think they'd disappear

I've been trading drawings
with Denise at Central Casting
she is proud of her deceit
and I am claiming not to notice
I bury my proposals
under Cheshire grins of moguls
who are teasing out the denouement

I've been leaving early
just to see if someone will notice
and somehow puzzling the merits
of the Dollar Tree's best votives
if there's still a room in your apartment
pull the shades and clean the carpet
I'll be back by New Year's Eve