Hide the doodles on your notes

Hide the endless paragraphs

Hide your feelings behind moats

Hide the hurt with laughs

Hide the questions you wish to ask

Hide the smile on your face

Show the world a mask

And nail it into place

Found crumpled and bloody

or crisp and new,

the color of green

sings the same

Passed from cold, dead hands

or swiped behind steel doors,

the color of green

weighs the same

Used in exchange for diamonds

or crystals of a different kind,

the color of green

burns out the same

The color of green-

reflected in the eyes

of snakes who shed their skin,

but still carry the poison

that kills the same

     I am sitting in my cubicle. There's a stack of paperwork on my desk and a cup of black coffee, half drank, beside it. The phone hooked into the wall rings. I pick it up without breaking eye contact with my computer screen.

     "Hello?"

     "Would you step into my office?"

     My heart drops to the soles of my feet. It's the boss.

     "Yes, sir." I say though my voice is barely above a whisper. I set the phone back into place with shaking fingers. Taking in a huge gulp of air, I rise from my spinning chair that I never actually use to spin. I straighten my skirt, once, twice, a third time, and walk.

     Despite my clearly purposeful walk, my real life neighbor whom I work with, Herman, waves a hand my way. "Hey!" I try to wave back quickly, but he isn't done yet. "I got your mail again. You missed the deadline on some bills." He flashes a fat stack of envelopes under his watery eyes.

     I rip the stack from his sticky fingers and plunge on. I don't stop until I've opened the door and face my boss. Mr. Gunner is a fat man with chapped lips he constantly licks. It just makes it worse.

     "You've done some great work here, Gabby, but I'm afraid I have to fire you." He says, licking his lips.

     I freeze. I'll have to live at home again.

     I wake up with a start. It was just a bad dream.