I’m a liar. It’s not a job
that pays well but I am
my own boss. My wife
brushes teeth. Hers. She
flosses, too. I’ve asked her
to do mine. Get a job,
she tells me. I have one.
I’m a liar, I tell her. We
look at each other, as if
we were paintings, as if
looking would make clear
some deep meaning,
make us smarter,
make us at least feel
better about ourselves.
Copyright © 2010 by Curtis Bauer. “Stupid Job” originally appeared in The Cortland Review. Used with permission of the author.