Shaunt Basmajian: On Filling out another Job Application

only my address has changed
my phone number
still seems to stay the same
and the list of
appointments references and positions
goes on forever


i walk
up and down
the city street
and wait
my turn in line
in a corporate office building
for a job
i know i won't get


i fill out a questionnaire
and then head over
to a union hall
where i'm forced to do
the same
greeted by a computer
and a digit as my name
amongst 300 other applicants
for a job
that will eventually terminate


after the interview
i take a break
and drink a cup of
cold coffee
in a shopping mall
recently subsidized
by the government
before i head back home
where i share a meaningless
conversat[i]on
with a friend
about politics
the prime minister's
recent trip abroad
and of course
the so called
"sagging" economy
while waiting fiendishly
for a call
i know i won't get




Other Channels, an Anthology of new Canadian poetry, edited by Shaunt Basmajian and Jones