October 2022 Flash Lit #3 - Quiet Quitting

Quiet Quitting, or Other Duties As Assigned

 

I

 

Coffee making.

Smile.

Type “Discussion ensued”

in the minutes, those minutes

I can’t have back.

 

II

 

Don’t answer the phone

because there’s no money to pay anyway.

Don’t open the mail and find

out where he’s been.

Try to cry where the kids

can’t hear.

 

III

 

No.

This is my hair.

These are my people.

These are my words.

I don’t have to be loud,

but I don’t have to leave.