Frictionless

Joe had to work on Christmas Day,
so said his boss at Slip and Slide.
Yet public transport was not up
to giving salesman Joe a ride.

(Joe counted on a big green bus
to get him where he earns his keep.
Alas, the Christmas holiday
made Acme Bus suspend the fleet.)

Yet only for a day was Bus
to stop the diesels from their hum.
Joe was as tense as hawser rope;
he smacked a hutch and sprained his thumb.

I guess I can walk all the way,
thought Joe, while heeding stinging sleet.
What callous cost pneumonia brings,
with tired legs and aching feet.

In hopes someone would lend a ride,
Joe pounded on a neighbors door.
But Joe had no help come his way,
with pride at bay and thumb still sore.

He thought of every way he could
traverse the distance to his work.
A conscientious gentle chap,
Joe thought that he would go berserk.

So finally with options gone,
Joe sent an email to his boss:
  I cannot get to Slip and Slide
  because all traction has been lost.



28 Lines
Writer’s Cramp
12-12-19