all day long
i listen to
pins drop
booming through
the enforced
silence as i
am relegated
to the shadows
never quite
important enough
to truly exist
just a casual
stain marring
the day to day
barely acknowledged
and just as
easily forgotten

i was real
for a week
for the first time
in a year
and now as i settle
back into silence
it is all too
apparent to me
these brief moments
do little more than
remind me of
my many failings
so i sit quietly
sulking alone
wondering if
i will ever
truly matter again

back to work
revisiting the same
locations to fix
the same machines
as neglected as
the rusted gears
unseen in the
daily malaise
only noticed when
they malfunction
suffering this
ignoble entropy
a human representation of
the second law of
thermodynamics in
all of its dire
consequences