Just The Way It Is By Joe Hakim

Scraping by on the minimum wage, my life in a cage, counting down the days until I next get paid, watch the money come in, watch it fly out again straight away, got to believe everything will be ok or I'll go crazy, whether it's in a factory or serving beers and coffees to people younger than me who spend money like it grows on trees, it's all a joke; haven't bought new clothes in years, spend what little I have when it appears on wine and smoke to help me cope

as the desperation grows, round and round the jobs I go, where I stop nobody knows. Thinking: I'm better than this; pissing away my potential like it doesn't exist, my mind is a clenched fist, punching the wall after crawling out of my pit because I've got to go out and earn it - the right to live, a chance to survive and keep my dreams alive for another week - because I'm up the fuckin' creek with the bills again so I smash my brains, flush them down the drain, just get fuckin' wrecked - thank god they can't tax drugs and sex.

Wish I didn't have to think and watch myself as I sink deeper into doubt and debt, got nothing to look forward to except going to bed at the end of a shift, praying before I go to sleep the writing will be enough to lift me out of the shit and make all the struggling worth it, while I try and accept the fact that this is just the way it is.

Copyright © Joe Hakim 2006

Joe Hakim Wins Poetry Idol Contest in London, May 2007 Poetry Idol is a twice yearly event organised by Shortfuse, one of London's premier comedy/poetry/spoken-word nights, held at The Camden Head in Islington.

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