Manhatten,

City of supposed Dreams,

Broadway Plays,

Ballet Shoes,

Liquified Faces,

Fancy Cars,

Large Bank Accounts,

Reality,

Broken Dreams,

Shattered Pasts,

Confused Presents,

Skewed Futures,

Do I know who I am?

Or why I came to NYC?

Food Servers:

Ignored,

Dollar Tips,

Leftover Waste,

Customers spew,

Where’s my food?

Terrible Service,

I’ll sue this place!

Models:

Casting after casting,

Agent after agent,

Rejection after rejection,

Distanced Self Worth,

Acne Stained Cheeks,

Empty Pockets.

Agents’ words kill,

Be skinnier,

Grow taller,

Make your skin glow!

Big Designers, Big Shows

to display “perfect beauty”

Bartenders:

Swiped Credit Cards,

Puke on Isle 5,

Semen Stained Bathroom Stalls,

Could I get a towel?

Ear drums shot,

Annoyed by weary tales of yesterday.

They pray as a table screams,

One more round of shots, Bartender!

Retail Team Members:

Exploded Changing Rooms,

Inventory Upon Inventory,

Should I say More?

Entitled Customers,

Exchange this, Return that,

Right now or Else!

Home Cleaners:

Isolated Halls,

Streaked Windows,

Exploding Toilets.

Shriveled Fingers,

Worn Back,

Dust Coated Hands.

Silence Looms,

Until the owner Enters,

What’s this sock?

Where’s Otis’ favorite toy?

Nannies:

Thrown Food,

Scattered Toys,

Screaming Children,

Complaining Parents.

Park Time,

Lost Shoe,

It smells like Poo,

Where’s the Lou?

Construction Workers:

Smashed Bulbs,

Leaky Roofs,

Rotted Wood,

Sweaty Foreheads,

Splintered Hands,

Physically Worn,

They toil on.

Employers frustratedly say,

Fix this toilet,

Sweep up these wood shavings,

We have work to do,

No smoke breaks.

Office Personal Assistants:

Policy Paper Drafted,

Numbers Crunched,

Crammed Presentations,

Is there time for lunch?

Misspelled Words,

Miscalculated Numbers,

Miscommunicated Presentations.

Mistakes, Mistakes, Redo.

Project Managers Moan,

Third Draft Poor,

Numbers Reconciled Twice Before,

Walk out the Door!

Teachers:

Early Mornings Plans Prepare,

For Half Awake Kids,

Early Afternoon Plans Prepare,

For Ready to Play Kids,

Early Evening Plans Prepare,

For Going Home Kids.

Broken erasers,

Unsharpened pencils,

Torn projects,

Yelled No’s.

Though perfect Smiles,

For the Parents Who Say,

Our Daughter Should Have an A.

Photographers:

Mind Whirl in a thousand Directions,

Lights, Angles, Camera Settings,

Create great Emotion,

Catch misplaced Details,

Make customers Happy,

Where are the twenty assistants?

Dreary Edit Eyes,

Busy Office Fingers,

Criticized Mind of Self,

What angle is that?

Why is the subject out of focus?

Can’t I do better?

Business Owners:

Heart,

Money,

Time,

Resources Used Strategically.

Stressed, Exhausted, Distanced,

Things Break,

Money Misplaced,

Employees Make Mistakes,

Nights Run Long,

Mind Wonders,

Will I make It:

Financially,

Emotionally,

Physically?

When will the good people show?

When will vacation begin?

Wonders in the Big Apple:

Why did I come?

To be Treated with Disdain,

Not given a Nickel or a Dime.

When will it be my Time?

Babe,

Rise,

Recover,

Inspire,

Dream Again!

Don’t Chase Money and Fame,

But Choose Time, Relationships and Love!