Middle manager — Summary

Dave BontaCheerful

in walking sleep I attend business better than most thinking men

but would to God I were clear as my own money

I stand for little

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The speaker describes going through the workday in a kind of trance. Walking half-asleep, he still handles his job better than most people who are fully awake and thinking hard. That sounds like a boast, but it reads more like a quiet complaint. If the work can be done without really being present, then the work, and perhaps the person doing it, doesn't amount to much.

The second stanza turns more desperate. "But would to God I were clear / as my own money" suggests he wishes he were as transparent and settled as his finances, something countable and plain. Instead he feels murky, unsure of himself. The old-fashioned phrase "would to God" adds real longing.

The final line, "I stand for little," works two ways. He has few beliefs or principles to defend, and he is also worth little. The mood is flat, tired, and quietly ashamed, with a dry humor underneath.

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