Devil In Pinstripes Poem by JAMES T. ADAIR

He buttons his starched white collar
His eyes glazed over
Envisioning a dollar
His Blackberry rings
He glances and smirks
As he ignores the caller
He laces each show so carefully
Fastens his cufflinks so artfully
The stacked English heels make him appeart taller
He doesn't know exactly when greed took a hold
Maybe it was his fear of growing old
Or the lies he was told
The parents who drilled in him to be bold
And to do exactly what he was told
But the kind heart of a child, a boy
Was somewhere steamrolled
and love was replaced with a vision of riches and gold
He was advised that school was a tool
and anyone who dissented was only a fool
But they put him on a path that was cruel
Replaced his heart with something miniscule
He arrives at his office
Strides through the glass doors
Nods at the coworkers he casually ignores
His secretary greets him with her best trained smile
Then leaves and returns with his coffee and cream
He grabs it and says something about being on his team
He sips on his drink and stares out of the city
High above the nitty gritty and has no pity
He looks at the empty photos on his wall
And the trappings of someone lofty
Who's supposedly got it all
He reviews a few documents and then makes a call
To terminate some of the underlings who must take the fall
His soul is as hollow as a drum
His heart beats but its just numb
Happiness, his money can't buy a crumb
He wishes it could all be undone
and then he sees some poor boys playing soccer
with a tin can for a ball
and his childhood rushes back
he suddenly realizes the passing of it all
and suddenly he wishes he was a boy still small
he throws a chrome and leather chair through the plate glass
his coworkers rush to the sound of the crash
When he feels his heartbeat for the first time
He realizes he's spent a life of crime
And runs like a lad wearing rags but feeling free
He feels the warm air rush in his eyes
and all he can see
is white light
before his body crashes against a tree
and falls into eternity

James T. Adair 1/20/2010