Click here to read the next poem.   Collection of Poems By F.I. Goldhaber     Signs of the Times   He stands on the street corner, leaning against the wooden stake that holds his employer's message to the passing hordes.   In between cigarettes, he sleeps on his feet, swaying slightly in the carbon monoxide-laced breeze.   Across four lanes of traffic, his colleague dances and waves to the passing cars. At the end of the day they both collect the same paycheck.     Corporations   Cellular One, Ford, U-Haul Verizon, AT&T, American Express, Hewlett Packard, U.S. West, MCI.   Corporate behemoths who have crossed me, refused to do the right thing, ignored the fair and just complaint.   I took you all on. I know who to call. I know where to write. I use my words to battle those who routinely abuse consumers.   FCC, FTC, SEC, PUC. AG's Office of Consumer Fraud. Familiar with the government alphabet soup,   I enlist their aid: for the threat of regulators gets your attention. I work my way up from supervisor to VP to CEO. Understanding corporate   structure--how to read annual reports--helps pave the way. I count my victories in dollars returned, letters of apology, payments made.       Fellow Travelers   We each have taken different paths to recognize we cannot make the journey alone. For a short while, we have traveled together the difficult road to recovery.   Some of us paid a horrid price because we did not reach this understanding sooner. Others suffered less, but still see the abyss that will swallow us if we can't learn new ways.   We helped each other over rough spots in the road. Though now our paths part, and we lose that support, our spirits have intertwined. We will never forget our time together.     Dreams   Flashes of film flit through my head.   Snippets of dream spin my brain from   one bizarre image to another. My thoughts   race about; bounce off each other; careen   through the miasma of my mind 'til I wake.   I lie in bed, exhausted from the night's exertions.     Betrayal   My words spill out on the page, exposing my heart and mind.   I share my words with the world, but only when I've weighed each   one to make sure it is the perfect choice to reveal my   thoughts. For more than a quarter century I have earned my   way in this world with words. She stole my words, words not ready   for the world to see. Words that should have brought money appeared   on her blog for all to read. I mourn the loss of my words.     © Copyright, F.I. Goldhaber.      Click here to read F.I. Goldhaber’s Brief Bio. Visit F.I. Goldhaber's website at: http://www.goldhaber.net     Click here to read the next poem.