The Best Part Of It
you fly through an obstacle
course of roll-away chairs and
plastic trash bins on your way
to the sign-out sheet
all day you’ve longed for
the best part of it –
the mad dash into daylight
bright even after 6 pm
when your rear view
mirror swallows what you
speed away from:
the taskmaster eager to
have your ideas escorted
out of the newsroom
the call from a ranting activist
who’s discovered your editor
doesn’t think he’s interesting
enough for the paper
but now you’re a beltway
Buddhist – stroking the beaded
steering wheel cover, chanting:
tomorrow’ll be a better day,
tomorrow’ll be a better day
the mantra linked
like the chain of cars ahead,
everyone racing towards
some reassurance
that they’ve made it
you fly through an obstacle
course of roll-away chairs and
plastic trash bins on your way
to the sign-out sheet
all day you’ve longed for
the best part of it –
the mad dash into daylight
bright even after 6 pm
when your rear view
mirror swallows what you
speed away from:
the taskmaster eager to
have your ideas escorted
out of the newsroom
the call from a ranting activist
who’s discovered your editor
doesn’t think he’s interesting
enough for the paper
but now you’re a beltway
Buddhist – stroking the beaded
steering wheel cover, chanting:
tomorrow’ll be a better day,
tomorrow’ll be a better day
the mantra linked
like the chain of cars ahead,
everyone racing towards
some reassurance
that they’ve made it
Alan King
Alan King's fiction and poems have appeared in the Arabesques Review, Warpland, The Amistad, and Fingernails
Across the Chalkboard: Poetry and Prose on HIV/AIDS, among others. A Cave Canem fellow and Vona Alum, his work
was also part of Anacostia Exposed, a collaborative exhibit with Irish photographer Mervyn Smyth that showcases
the life and energy of Anacostia. He is the author of his chapbooks "Transfer" and "The Music We Are" – also the
title of his manuscript. http://myspace.com/alanking81, http://pw.org/content/alan_king
Across the Chalkboard: Poetry and Prose on HIV/AIDS, among others. A Cave Canem fellow and Vona Alum, his work
was also part of Anacostia Exposed, a collaborative exhibit with Irish photographer Mervyn Smyth that showcases
the life and energy of Anacostia. He is the author of his chapbooks "Transfer" and "The Music We Are" – also the
title of his manuscript. http://myspace.com/alanking81, http://pw.org/content/alan_king
