“Production to profit is his scheme / Both part of the American Dream” (Frank Viollis)

Be Home at Five

by Frank Viollis

Now take the man on Montgomery Street
Here’s a fellow with swift moving feet
Where he’s going I can’t say
I wonder if he knows his way

Production to profit is his scheme
Both part of the American Dream
Fifteen minutes is all he takes
Time enough for his coffee breaks

A fast moving man, briefcase in hand
Running around, buying up land
Got to build a building tall
Which can be seen by one and all

Be home at five, is his last remark
He’s home again, Gee! the TV’s dark
You hear about Joe next door
He moved up to the 25th floor

We leave our friend on Montgomery Street
He’s got competition with which to compete
About his life he makes no bones
And me, I shouldn’t throw stones?

“Be Home at Five,” by Frank Viollis originally published in Forum (1969, City College of San Francisco).