They Gave Me Nothing Poem by Richard Thornton

They gave me a headset
So my hands could be free
To type, push buttons
and process

They gave me passwords
Printed my name on a badge
So to remind me of who I am
Still I kept forgetting

They gave me a desk
With a lock and a key
Where my ambition took my mind
and wouldn't come out

They gave me a salary
That embarassed me
A megre sum
For the son of the poor

They sent me on courses
That didn't really work
The only thing I learnt
Was to mask

They gave me annual leave
And I ran and I ran
Away from the bank
then I got to a beach

That's where I found the shovel
And I digged and I doug
Until the sand got dark and wet
Then the walls colapsed around me

Only there I was free
Under the beach
with the sun and the sand
On top of me