Run Of The Mill
- Hashtag Kalakar
- Dec 12, 2025
- 1 min read
By Simran Malhotra
Bright eyes
Nervous smiles
Heart racing
Lightly pacing
“Congratulations, you got the job”
Ecstatic energy
Jump with joy
Years and years go by
His identity is a single bright lanyard
Designations change
The process is still the same
Swipe the card while entering
Swipe the card while leaving
Tired eyes
Like well groomed sheep the process goes on
Generation after generation
Automatons
He tires carrying the lanyard
Which was once wispy
Now weighs him down slowly
Day in
Day out
The process is still the same
Swipe the card while entering
Swipe the card while leaving
The card did change
Afresh every time
Its bearer now running out of time
His spirit numbed like rancid wine
Sunken eyes
Compliant gait
Hunching back
He’s paid in abundance
But is robbed of the sublime
Who will tell him he is but a replaceable fool?
The process will always be the same, no matter the mule
Swipe the card while entering
Swipe the card while leaving your soul behind.
By Simran Malhotra
Paid in abundance, robbed of the sublime... easy to lose sight of this amidst the grind. Such a great reminder, captures it well!
reading this made me feel so many different ways, wow. beautiful written!
Wonderfully articulated poem, on the repetitiveness of corporate life! So well written!
Hey writer, you are preaching to the choir and hopefully one day we are much more bright eyed and not swiping cards 🧚
Love the intense writing