nine to five

in some ways
they look like prisoners.
the long lines
getting off
the subway,
the buses, marching towards
their cells.
they are non resistant
and peaceful,
reluctant to stir things
up
and miss a meal,
or a chance at a better
view
from where they sit
on the seventeenth floor.
there are no chains,
no guards,
no watch tower.
but the sentence is long
and hard
with no means of escape,
that they know of.