JOB ALERT!
My phone blurts out
Abundantly
Unpredictably
In the bathroom!  
Right out of bed!
 
Now? But I didn’t even have coffee!
I am cornered
	Cortisol spike
		Red throbbing light
			Pulse racing
Round the weapons
Slide down the pole!
 
Conscientious self to dopey one: you must answer the call
of the Job search
Hunting season is open!
Now or it will fly away forever
 
Or fight the intruder
That dared to trouble
The smooth water
Of the lake of your mind until now
 
In the olden days
Before Steve Jobs that is
You bought the fat Sunday paper
And scanned the Help Wanted section
Treasure Hunt over leisurely coffee
Sometimes you cut up little squares
And pasted them in a notebook
With paper glue
Then you folded the paper
And you waited peacefully
with the satisfaction of a job well done
And you shuffled to the kitchen
To prepare a slow-cooked pot-au-feu
 
Nowadays you are bombarded
And I know by experience
That the missiles are empty threats
Didn’t take long for this old dog
To learn new tricks.