• Patiently waiting
    Five more floors
    Taking some papers upstairs to accounting
    Just a temp, no one pays me
    Any regard

    Severe, strict speechmaker to my
    Left, stiffly starched accountant to my
    Right, assistant to the financial officer going over figures that are
    Wrong
    Four more floors

    The speechwriter leaves
    A new man gets on; he’s going straight to the top
    Believing his path is
    Right, but his methods are all
    Wrong
    Three more floors

    Financial assistant pushed past me,
    And out the door
    Just a temp, he pays me no regard

    The secretary steps in
    Everyone knows where her overtime consists of
    Sharp heels press my toes, I hiss
    She pays me no regard, I’m just a temp

    Go-getter and secretary chat like I’m not here
    Accountant, too absorbed in company money
    Money he doesn’t have
    Money he can never seem to get enough of
    Two more floors

    The elevator empties
    No one gets on
    Accountant will realize later he got off too soon
    I shuffle my pages
    I’m just a temp, no one pays me regard
    But these people, everyone
    They’re dying inside
    I smile, the temp, I can get out alive.