The rest

I don’t ever want to have a job
Just a paycheck, thanks
I will never need you
Your commute, attire, meetings, holiday parties, interviews
We are not compatible, me and business, career, occupation, job
I cannot fill that position
I am not the workforce
My sense of place is home
My life has no room for middlemen, it is all just doing and making, creating and birthing and feeding and bathing
I sleep hard having missed nothing
I milked the cow, I made the butter
I ground the wheat and baked the bread
I hoed the earth and reaped the harvest
Boiled the bones and rendered the lard
Fed the family and washed the dishes
Peed under the stars and listened to the coyotes
I will be here to do it all again tomorrow
One day a week I leave the children and the land for half a day
I swap juicy gossip at the market and bring home treats and news from town and enough cash in my pocket
That is all I need of the man-made world, I can do the rest
By Jesse Clark
Warwick NY