The Work That Keeps Me From Myself

Over the last two decades,

I’ve worked in great places. 

And I’ve worked in toxic ones too.

In the good ones, 

I absorbed a bit of the joy from staff and customers. 

Borrowed their happiness 

and wore it like my own.

In the toxic ones, 

I replaced my personal burdens with the ones at work. 

Getting yelled at. 

Taken advantage of. 

Working overtime for unreasonable pay.

And yet I stayed,

Each for over a year. 

One for over a decade.

Toxic or not, I stayed.

Because when I’m on my own, 

Sometimes my mind goes into overdrive. 

Thinking about things I shouldn’t. 

Or things I should’ve let go a long time ago.

So I stayed. 

Not because the job was perfect. 

But because staying at work 

was always easier than being at home.

Away from what is inside my head