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Hope And Taxes

1

I went through my tax forms this year
and well, It should be one big compliment
because I didn’t even work last year
and the federal government
understood this
and they told me
that I didn’t owe them a penny

and the state government
well, try to put out of your mind the fact that
we are in the state with the
second largest city in the country, here

try to put that out of your mind

well, they told me this year
that I owed them more money In taxes
than I have ever owed them

even when I even had a job

and all I keep thinking here
is that it’s just not fair, and well, I don’t use
the cops ever and I never use the fire department
and well, I PAY health insurance, so I
don’t use the hospitals unless I need to
and well, I paid for that for a few years of insurance anyway

but it is beginning to look
to me
but it is beginning to look
like I am paying for too much
and that I should just stop having to pay for it all

and I’m beginning to like the fact
that Montana has no speed limits
you’re just supposed to use common sense when you drive

because the theory is,
you’re supposed to be able to have
enough brains in your head
to decide for yourself
when you’ve had enough
and when you’ve had too much



2

I’m tired of having hope
that’s all

there’s always something
that is bothering me
there is always something
that is getting on my nerves
there is always something
that isn’t fair to me, that Is
ripping me off, that is screwIng me over

there is always something
that is making me feel like
I haven’t given enough
and that I have to give more
and when I have given enough
they want to take more from me

It’s like
when you’re trying to take blood
from a patient that has been dead
for a couple of weeks
and the blood has dried out
for a good week there

and you’re thinkIng,
if I just turn the pressure
up a little bit on this
little electronic gauge here
maybe I can get
a little more blood here and
maybe we can conduct a few
more experiments

well, maybe it’s like this

maybe It’s like this for me



3

I worked for years
at a nice corporation
well, a company,
a nice company, with an owner that made
a cool million every year wIth
his glorious profits
and he gave nothing to the staff

In fact, he didn’t want to give titles to the staff
because then they would have more reason to leave
and you know,
they knew they did the work
and they knew they deserved It
and they knew they did the work of more than one
and they knew they wouldn’t get Christmas parties
and they wouldn’t get Christmas bonuses
and they had to fight for raises
and they were always thought of
as less than what they were at work

and they were always thought of
as less than what they deserved

and I know I sound like I’m ranting here
but
but give me a break
I deserve it after all this time

I feel like I’ve been tied on to a trap here
like I’ve been tied to some sort of contraption here
that is supposed to make me feel better
and in the meantIme hurts like hell
in the process

and this is how I’m getting to feel
all the time

and I’m tired of feeling this way



4

so this is my theory
and I don’t have all the details worked out
so forgive me on this one
but
if everyone can sustain their own
can’t we choose to be our OWN country?
I mean, forget this gun-banning thing,
forget this BANNING thing altogether,
and let’s just let people in
on a first-come, first-serve
basis, just the people that earned it,
just the people that deserve it

well, why don’t we just LET them in?
we need to just get an island here.
and well,
if we don’t know what island to buy,
I suggest that we just use
all the yard waste that has collected over the years
in this country alone

I mean, I know of a guy
who decided to keep all the junk mail he got
in a given year
and I wonder if he’s still doing that
if he has the space for all the junk mail
that is usually sent to your house
if nothing else, it would good to have all that stuff
for kindling a fire
and maybe he’s doing it
to show how much junk we have to deal with
or to show what a waste it is
I don’t know what his reasons are
but either way, you gotta think
that it makes a good point

we could use all of this trash
that we get in our lives
that we have to get rid of in our lives
to create our own
island, so to speak

well, maybe that would work

there’s got to be a few
engineers
out there
that feel the same way I do
that are sick of some of the
same things that I am
and maybe they would be able to come up
with some of the answers here

I’m sure they’d be paid WELL for their services
I’m sure of It


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