We are all very excited to be here

He shaved off about 40 years of his life
at the company, until he was told
to stop.

Packing up his corner office,
he had assumed his job was
a never-ending track that aligned him,
like a model earth facing a model sun,
stars and systems at his back.

But his career was not a perfect coil;
it was a spike. Now the calendar
is as bland and open as his waiting,
and the wall.

"2011 Corporate Strategy Meeting"

Profit & loss! Profit & loss!
ROI. Revenue, revenue!
Profit & loss! Profit & loss!
ROI. Revenue, revenue!

It was the song the publisher sang
as she stood in front of us,
discussing ways to cultivate
sales leads, roughly four hours
into our seven-hour day.

Behind her glowed an inspiring slide
of the building we were in.
Michigan corporate headquarters,
each window polished to reflect
the unified front of the sky.

At the top-right edge of the frame,
nearly smudged out of focus,
a lone bird perched on the roof.
Its trilling melody very far removed
from multi-sponsorship webinar pricing.