I’VE NEVER MINDED DRINKING ALONE

I had a friend, once,
who obsessed over building scale models of office suites

inside the glass bottles ordinarily used for models
of wooden ships, 

his own office littered with empty handles
and fifths

stickered with the names of various naval celebrities
and Caribbean destinations.

So many scenes.
Tiny figurines jockeying for promotions

and raises and the attentions of their work wives.
Corner offices splendid

with miniature mahogany desks and views
not to be missed,

the cast of the glass bottle 
adding psychedelic distortion to the view

of my once-friend’s office, lit
as it was with lamps he’d brought from home.

Overhead fluorescents kept off.
Better things to do than to meet up at the bar after 5,

turning cocktail napkins into blueprints
for other places we’d both prefer to be.

Brian Chaffee writes poetry about corporate life, although he’s thinking of quitting. While his interests range from inner to outer space, he’s currently focused on poetry, design, synthography, and storytelling. He’s published three collections of poetry so far, including Shutdown Startup: A Cycle of Departures(23rd Century Modern, 2022). (Spoiler alert: not all the poems are about corporate life.) He can be found at www.brianchaffee.com.