9 to 5

[sasha]

aah, life at the office -
daycare for adults
a culture of self-importance...
the jargon:
"hear me! I talk just like el jefe!"
the aggrandizement:
"I stapled these sheets all by myself!"
the back-biting:
"my tie is straighter than yours!"
the opportunism:
"great idea! Mind if I steal it?"...
oh, how I miss it -
forced into retirement
to spend my last days
wandering the natural world
with only wild birds
the wind
rushing streams
and my own introspections
to accompany me....

[saw]

I retired on the earliest possible day I could....and the woods has been a santuary......and when Inside, painting

[sasha]

I was was laid off 6 months before reaching retirement age - with 6 months' severance. It was early release from prison. (NOT for good behavior - I'd quiet-quitted long before that.) But I haven't felt this free since I was 14 - every day, every woodland walk is an adventure. I still see the natural world the same way I did as a child, as this fantastical (sic) museum of wonders - the magic hasn't grown old - and to share it, I need to express it somehow in words - it's hard work, but a labor of love.....

[mnaz]

The rat race.
Sitting behind a damned desk
all day, year after year.
When will it end!?
(Getting closer.)