my friend wendy gordon said
there are limited choices
but it all comes down to sweat
and she was right
the way she frequently is
it is one of those truths
that somehow we all know
but often forget in our
frantic embrace of not much at all
none of it comes easy
and that is the hardest lesson
we have come too far
from the idea of nose to the grindstone
fair pay for a good day's work
because no one wants to work
we have moved off the farm
and do our dancing with machines
it is the same with relationships
and our new morality
our new morality means nothing
because we don't have the means to maintain it
and there is nothing new
about wanting something for nothing
the idea has been around
like the whores' whisper walking downtown
the dresses change as style moves on
but the ladies stay the same
they are selling the same old idea
and it is not their fault
we all want something for nothing
and hesitate when the bill is to be paid
we pull plastic out of our pockets
and pay the man with promises
and all the while
the bill adds up
Copyright© michael dennis/Pulp Press Book Publishers 1988