Wage Slave Blues

Wage Slave Blues
© Surazeus
2017 05 23

I walk down the hard city street,
looking for a job.
I hand out my short resume,
hoping to get a job
that will pay enough to live.
I get unemployment checks and food stamps,
but I would rather work and pay my own bills
but I am a wage slave in paradise.

The man driving a pickup truck
shouts at me, "Get a job!"
But his republicans vote no
on the pay-raise bill
so they pay enough to live.
I get unemployment checks and food stamps,
but I would rather work and pay my own bills
but I am a wage slave in paradise.

I get hired at the factory,
building desks from oak.
I get a pay check every week,
enough to pay rent
but not enough to buy food.
I get unemployment checks and food stamps,
but I would rather work and pay my own bills
but I am a wage slave in paradise.

I work forty years building desks,
where other people write.
From my hard work they buy a yacht,
while I cannot buy a car
on cash they pay to survive.
I get unemployment checks and food stamps,
but I would rather work and pay my own bills
but I am a wage slave in paradise.

I ask for a raise for health care,
but the boss laughs, "No!"
I worked for years but he got rich,
forcing me to slave
with just enough cash to live.
I get unemployment checks and food stamps,
but I would rather work and pay my own bills
but I am a wage slave in paradise.

I slouch on my couch after work
and watch Walking Dead.
I am a zombie working hard
for the afterlife
through locked gates of paradise.
I get unemployment checks and food stamps,
but I would rather work and pay my own bills
but I am a wage slave in paradise.

When I die from sad weariness
bury me in a desk.
Bury me under an apple tree
so I become apples
I never earned enough to buy.
I get unemployment checks and food stamps,
but I would rather work and pay my own bills
but I am a wage slave in paradise.