A Couple Great Poems

Poems: "Essential" and "Employed" by Beverly Rollwagen, from She Just Wants. © Nodin Press.

Essential

She just wants to keep her essential sorrow.
Everyone wants her to be happy all the time,
but she doesn't want that for them.
There is value in the thread of sadness in each person.
The sobbing child on an airplane,
the unhappy woman waiting by the phone,
a man staring out the window past his wife.
A violin plays through all of them,
one long note held at the beginning and the end.

Employed

She just wants to be employed for eight hours a day.
She is not interested in a career;
she wants a job with a paycheck and free parking.
She does not want to carry a briefcase filled
with important papers to read after dinner;
she does not want to return phone calls.
When she gets home,
she wants to kick off her shoes
and waltz around her kitchen singing,
"I am a piece of work."