Had a bad day
Unpaid bills on the desk
Kids demanding designer clothes
Toothaches without dental insurance
Partners who don’t want sex today,
Or most days, for that matter
Because they’re thinking
About the bills, the kids, the secret pregnancy
Taking out their frustration on who is closest
Rising heating bills during a February snap
Internet companies that overcharge
Because you didn’t know all the rules
Having to spend hours talking to incompetents
Who can’t really help at all

Today you were informed at work.
Your health benefit is now a co-pay,
That your life insurance was cut in half
Unless you pay a “small” amount each month
Sure, you got a raise last month
25 cents an hour
The new deductions, a dollar more an hour
You lose again and again and again.

Another dire day at hand
Every day wakes to the same routine.
Growing mountainous demands
Never fully satisfied.
Maxed out credit cards,
They won’t be paid off even when you’re 90
Started at zero interest, like crack-cocaine.
Every year their premiums double.
Sick days. Hard times.
Turn on the television.
Bought it on the card
Yes –gotta have a “smart” one now.

News of war, slimy politics, reality TV
All for ratings, to get you to buy more.
You may get satisfied, right?
But the harder you try, the backward you go.
Something has got to give–
Craniums are heating, pressurizing,
Relationships, strained, threadbare
Some loved ones will spin out of orbit.
They could not feel the love any more.
There should have been more support,
Understanding,
But, they missed it
Because
Had a bad day.

--Limericist 2008