Pretend Like Everything is Okay

I would work 1,000 twelve hour days
if it meant you would be safe
as the world is crashing around us
i find myself not lost in traffic
driving through downtown cleveland
in rush hour
and if the world was ending today
i would still be forced to go to work
sit at my desk and pretend
like the world wasn’t burning down
around me and this time thankfully
it’s not all in my head
but i guess im used to this
and im not entirely sure
how everyone can just pretend
everything is okay
like they hit some sort of adulthood
i haven’t yet
and everyone walks down the same hallways
go to the same printers
say hello to every passerby
like there’s nothing going on
outside of the four walls
like people aren’t dying
like i have a choice to stay home
and disasters really do bring out the
best and worst of people
when they have to choose between death
and a paycheck
but i guess it’s always been that way
i just thought i wouldn’t have to be
reminded of it so soon
after getting off the streets.