Paperboy.
ice-cream-scooper-
slash-soda jerk; 
lumberjack, dishwasher
donut-seller
Early professions,
pocket-money for
adolescence, keen
life-lesson reality
checks still being
cashed
Passed the tests
had some laughs
Real, adult life,
full-time living.
Radio announcer.
Construction-gopher
census taker, house painter,
shopping-mall Santa,
radio station manager
and pumpkin monger;
more life lessons, more
life lived, lived well
Bellman, waiter,
hotel van driver;
security guard, courier,
receptionist, file clerk…
condom inspector? Truly.
Insert your own…
punch-line here.
Warehouses, offices,
loading-docks, fields
and assembly lines;
kitchens, hotels,
dining rooms.
Better hotels, better
dining rooms, still
greasy kitchens
I have pushed pencils,
buttons, products,
wheelbarrows, envelopes,
my limits and other
people’s buttons;
pulled my own weight
and numerous muscles
Suits, ties, uniforms,
dungarees and aprons,
paper hats, hairnets;
work boots, hard hats
and headphones
Been there, worn it,
done it, got paid for it.
Learned, taught, failed,
succeeded.
Experience almost always
counts for something.
Ponderable polemics, poetic 