Pat Jones

Old Business, New Business

The records of the hours I lost, the miles
     I traveled going nowhere fast, and all
     The energy I wasted playing ball
With minor-leaguers fill the hefty files
You’ll find right next to several other piles
     Of paperwork I’ve stacked outside my stall.
     I’m sad, now that the time has come to call
It quits, for I will miss your friendly smiles.
 
Business is business. Old relationships
     Are bound to wane if fellow worker bees
          Still dwell on wax instead of thinking honey.
 
The days when loyalty bore fruit are blips
     On ancient radar screens a few degrees
          Askew — sweeter by far, the flow of money.

C. B. Anderson was the longtime gardener for the PBS television series, The Victory Garden. He divides his time between writing poems and getting ready to write poems. Recently, one of them that appeared in The Raintown Review was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. His favorite color is plaid.