Did You Get Your Pink Slip?

Did you get your pink slip?

Yes, you—the one who sat there, crunched the numbers,

Signed the forms, shifted the blame,

Built the walls around futures you’ll never claim.

You know who I’m talking about—

The ones with suits stitched from stitched-up promises,

Those who measure worth in profits, not in purpose,

Forgetting children’s names but remembering the lobbyist’s service.

Did you get your pink slip?

I hope it came loud, bold, stamped with shame—

Not whispered like the policies you slid under doors,

But shouted like the dreams you ignored.

I hope it burns a hole in your pocket,

Right next to the checks you cashed without conscience,

Next to the silence you wore like armor,

While hope crumbled in the classrooms you dismantled.

You made it possible—

Possible for recess to shrink,

For arts to vanish,

For the bell to ring, but no teacher to answer.

The cavalry never came.

It passed right by—

Straight into the pockets of those

Who nodded at your meetings but never met our eyes.

Did you get your pink slip?

I hope they slapped it on your forehead,

So you’d carry it like the weight you placed on us,

A badge of betrayal, overdue and undeniable.

Hang it on your wall.

Frame it in guilt, polish it with regret.

Let it remind you of who you chose to be,

Of the voices you muted, the futures you sold cheaply.

Maybe, just maybe,

It’ll teach you something about loss—

The kind that doesn’t show up on spreadsheets,

But echoes in empty classrooms and hollow hearts.

So, did you get your pink slip?

Good.

Now maybe you’ll feel what it’s like

To be dismissed.