I Could Only Be Happier

If this Diet Coke from Jack-in-the-Box
had a splash of bourbon, a mighty tang
to cut Nutrasweet's thick metallic flavor.

If my feet were at home, propped up
on the coffee table as I lay my head
in my new wife's lap, discussing
houses and babies and possibilities
instead of behind a computer
negotiating the ins and outs of help files
and documentation strategies.

If the power went down, stranding
a whole building's worth of machines,
and the phone system, too, and all
the bosses could do was send us
travelling down the highways and backroads
for an afternoon of simple pleasure.

If the world had a place for the educated,
the creative, dare I say the artistic,
free of corporate considerations
and political conveniences.  A place
where a single tree could be drawn and photographed
and written about until its leaves shone
with love and proper attention.

If this damned phone would stop ringing
and all my customers would be content
with their software, their work, their lives.

Jeff Kersh