He'll Meet You on the Corner

He'll meet you on the corner
Where the box is
You know the box?

Drop the letter in the box
And wait for him to show up

When he gets there
He'll take the letter out of the box

He will read the letter

Depending on the contents
Of the letter

He will either laugh
And yell
And clap his hands playfully
Like a baby
Watching a toy fall over

Or he will cry
And eat the letter
Consuming each and every piece of it
Including the lipstick kiss
On the bottom

There is always a lipstick kiss

You are not important enough
To watch him
Do any of this

Read it
Cry
Laugh
Yell
Eat it

Whatever

You're nothing

You're a deliverer

A deliverer of letters
Who will stand on that corner
For as long as it takes
For him to get there

Should the night run out
And daybreak occur
Before he's gotten there

You are to remove the letter
And try again the following night

You will continue to do this
For as long as you receive the letters
For as long as they are written
And for as long as we see fit
To write them

We are very conscious of him
We are very concerned for and conscious of him
And we do not want him to feel pressured
To do anything

So you will show up
And you will wait
And you will be grateful
That you have a job
When so many do not

You may not bring a book to read
You may not play on your phone
You may not whistle
Or act merry
In any way, shape, or fashion

You are a deliverer, do you understand me?

You deliver things

You are a go-between
For important people
With important things to do
And receive
And feel

We are giving this man
Feelings

Feelings he is paying good money for
And it is crucial
That you do not
Interfere
With that transaction

These letters contain things
That you could not possibly understand

But the closest thing
To your mind
Would be music

There is music
In these letters
And when he reads these letters
They make him feel things
That he hasn't felt
In a very long time

That's what he's paying for
That's why you're there

And should he decide, one day
To stop showing up altogether

You will continue to go
And deposit
And wait
And take back
And return
And deposit
Over and over again
For the rest
Of your miserable life

And each paycheck
Will be bigger and bigger

So that you'll have no choice
But to keep returning
Despite the fact
That you'll no longer need the money

Because, a little part of you
A part so small
It wouldn't even be visible
Under a microscope

Will want to know
If he's coming back

Because a part of you
Will want him to open the letter
And share it with you

To show you
What's written
On those letters

And even though, right now
I am going to tell you
And I am telling the truth
That he is never, NEVER
Going to share with you
What's on those letters
You will continue to hope
That he does

And yet, you won't just open the letters
And read them for yourself
Because if you do
You'll become something else

You'll become something bigger than you are
Bigger than he and I and all my associates are
And even though that might seem like
The thing you want to be
And so reaching into the box
And pulling out the letter
And reading it
And weeping or laughing
Might seem like the sneaky-yet-logical
Thing to do

You won't

You won't

Because you're scared of it, aren't you?

You're scared of becoming so large
And important
That you need to hire someone
To write letters
To make you feel something
So you can con yourself
Into waking up everyday
Without walking into that lake full of sewage
That you drive by
On your way to the office

That's why we don't allow you to look at him
When he's reading his letter
When he meets you on the corner
Because we don't want you to make eye contact
And connect with the fact
That you two are not all that much different

That you're just a bold move away
From being a man with too much money
And nothing else

So here's your letter
So here's your money
So here are your directions

I'll see you tomorrow

Oh, I will

Oh, I'm very sure I will
See you tomorrow

And for many, many days
After that