Sisyphean Mission
By Reid Baer

I’m carrying a deep red
velvet pack like Santa
over my right shoulder
and gleefully sharing
my great gifts with kids and
mankind even as I
stress and tug at the load
starting to lag behind
getting heavier instead
of lighter loving you
while hating me and the
pain in my muscles and
tendons searching for the
source I discover an
unwrapped package within
one hundred pounds of lead
weight engraved with the words
“infantile expectations.”
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