012015   012024

Raytheon manager Charlie wanted us punched in
ready to work at 7:30
subsequently the staff all punched out
a few minutes before the end of day. 
Approved maintenance outages were 6 to 7AM
my alarm clock murmured at 4:30 
those times are nearly imaginary 
but are real indeed for a young family man.
Sleep-deprived breakfast and dressing and 
driving with my Thermos of coffee
waiting until the minute of exactly 6 to begin my job
pulling up computer room floor tiles with suction cups
rerouting bus-and-tag cables along sub-flooring and
a few minutes before 7 
eye-level spit-shine shoes began sauntering by
a manager retired from the chain of command would ask
"How’s it going?"
I'm as confident as thirty years ago 
I'm the same unpolished now as then
I won’t parachute from the military into a tech facility.