duct tape in poetry

I have this clipboard that I
keep my poems or my songs upon
when I read or when I sing
and here's the thing

it used to be my work clipboard
when I was a medical courier in LA
when I went to hospitals everyday
to pick up laboratory piss and shit
and also be treated like it
by doctors who thought I was no one
so they were free to act like jerks
by bosses who took advantage
of my desperate situation and
made me do three men's work
every single eight-hour day
I kept the clipboard
even when I left that awful job
even when I left LA
because I wanted to remember
never again

in three or four moves
on the run from family and money
it ended up smashed to bits
but I put duct tape to it
like a junker car
with a bashed-in fender
because I wanted to remember
how awful it was
a job like that
how I'd rather blow away
than ever go back
and when I performed
I'd have it in my hands
so I could stay angry
that was the plan
but a funny thing happened on the way
to trying to stay an angry young man

the clipboard got slowly covered
in stickers for my friends' East Coast bands
and its meaning changed
I came to understand
every time I covered up another inch of tape
it more represented the hope of my artist friends
it became my poet's sword and shield
it became my superhero cape
because my friends helped make it represent
where I am and I'm going
not where I went
and Christ I thank them for it
it's a symbol and I can't ignore it

I have this clipboard that I
keep my poems or my songs upon
and here's the thing
now it helps me remember
why I want to read
and sing