I’M TIRED OF WORKING FOR ECCENTRIC WHITE MEN

n by eccentric i mean maybe
as boys they tee-peed entire cul-de-sacs

went to princeton
n are now making 6 figures

or maybe i’m working for a catholic
high school white boy

like the ones i used to smoke out @ parties
before they grabby-handed my friends

after a few too many lost beer pong games
the all-boys school was called saints

but their names were actually matt or russell or nate
or kyle or kyle or kyle

n they all graduated white w/ swoopy bangs n went to work
white n did acid once

once, will, my boss @ TIME magazine
called me into his office to practice the Spanish 

he learned on duolingo, confidently
pulled out his iPhone 6 n the Spanish whispered 

el pan el pan, listen to this, his thin lips
let out a PAN like Peter PAN like pots n PAN

to my ear n did he think of me even
once @ his seaside destination wedding in Mexico

once, justin, the president of an advertising company
told me he’d plan my birthday celebration

gathered everyone in the main conference room
stuck a lit candle into an overripe avocado

n had the office sing happy birthday in Spanish
while Selena played on the sonos

sometimes i think god is a capitalist
sometimes i think manager is another word for a white man

who brings me in for interviews or meetings
n never says one beautiful genuine thing

— Alexis Aceves Garcia (from APOGEE)

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