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The Poetry Quarter
(Fall 2023)

Business Poetry

My Big Business Moment

When i see the many millions of dollars
Spent in advertising every year to
Convince men that they can try
Something not traditionally masculine
--like a tequila seltzer or all soap--
Without their dad calling them gay
Or their wife going off and fucking
A cowboy,

I wonder
Whether it wouldn't be cheaper
To give half the population
Free therapy.

Though of course you have to want
To change.

***

Business School

Sometimes
When I look at the
Different jobs I've had
And the many jobs my friends
Have had and I think about how
Many of these workplaces
Have had terrible communication
Between employees who don’t
Feel valued in positions they
Were never properly trained for
Working for supervisors who
Don’t really understand what
They do in no small part
Because these supervisors
Never wanted to supervise
Anyone anyway while the bosses
At the very top think that the
Solution is to switch from
OneDrive to Sharepoint
Or from Wrike to Asana
Or just keep “restructuring” 
Departments every four months
Without any idea of what actually
Motivates or inspires or comforts
The people they call lazy
And treat replaceably until
They leave which means that
Two more people will leave from
The stress of taking on their extra work
Without compensation or thought
All while the people upstairs
Complain about how hard it is
To find good help these days,

It almost feels like all of these
Bosses from all of these jobs
Went to a separate school where
Instead of learning about morality
And rhetoric and the human mind
They just learned how to make
The biggest number on an Excel
Sheet.

But that can't be true, right?

I don’t know. Maybe I’m being unfair. 
All I know is that every time I watch
Harry Potter, I’m like: Why are none
Of these classes about ethics or
Civics or physics or any liberal arts? 

They are 
Giving these kids the tools to do
Amazing things, but no reason 
To do/not do anything at all. 
And a quarter of them are evil?
Frankly, optimistic. 


Copyright © 2015
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    • On Lying to Yourself
    • Movie Idea No. #3
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  • This Shouldn't Have Happened
  • Spring 2024 (Photography)
    • Gaps Between Buildings
    • January 6th, 2024
    • Fake Flyers
    • Public Art #1
    • Signs
    • March 7th, 2024
    • Do You Poke Smot?
    • Public Art #2
    • September 30th, 2023
    • Pictures of the Ground
  • Winter 2024 (Letters)
    • A Form Letter for Newspapers
    • A Form Letter for Art Museums
    • A Form Letter for Film Critics
    • A Form Letter for College Professors
    • Horny Copypasta to Text People on Arbor Day
    • 20 Wonderful Messages to Write Inside a Card
  • Fall 2023 (Poetry)
    • Adrianne Lenker from the band Big Thief visits Nebraska for the Maha Music Festival
    • Three Poems That Were Written on the Same Day
    • The Silver Dollar Flapjacks of Poetry
    • Regular and Irregular Meter
    • A Question
    • Business Poetry
    • Regional News Formatted Poetically
    • The Mental Health Awareness Decade
    • A Text Exchange in Which a Secret is Revealed
    • Maybe the Closest I Have Come to Writing a Perfect Poem
    • Three Poems
    • A Series of Thoughts I Had While Watching All That Jazz
  • Summer 2023
    • General News
    • Community Postings
    • Poems
    • Regional News You Might Have Missed
    • How to Scare Your Friends Through the Mail
    • Genital-less Images
  • Spring 2023
    • General News
    • Community Postings
    • Poems
    • Regional News You Might Have Missed
    • Instructions for a Good Time Pt. 2
    • Romantic Texts to Send Anyone at Any Time
    • Regional News You Might Have Missed
  • Winter 2023
    • General News
    • Community Postings
    • Poems
    • Best of 2022
    • Opinion: On AI Generated Art
  • Fall 2022
    • General News
    • Community Postings
    • Poems
    • Creative Possum Names
    • The Secluded Sisters of the Missouri Valley
    • Regional News You Might Have Missed
    • A Zine/Challenge
    • Found Fiction
  • Summer 2022
    • Spring 2022 >
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      • Community Postings
      • Editorial: On Arming Teachers and Watching Movies
      • Regional News You Might Have Missed
      • A Letter from the Secluded Sisters of the Missouri Valley
      • Well, We Asked
      • Poems
      • Social Skills for Young Children
    • General News
    • Community Postings
    • Instructions for a Good Time
    • Regional News You Might Have Missed
    • A Letter from the Secluded Sisters of the Missouri Valley
    • Poems
    • Dating App Pics
    • Editorial: On the Fourth of July
  • Winter 2022
    • General News
    • Community Postings
    • A Letter from the Secluded Sisters of the Missouri Valley
    • Poems
    • Regional News You Might Have Missed
    • Style Tips
    • On New Years and New Resolutions
    • Children's Corner
    • A Quick Questions
  • Fall 2021
    • General News
    • Community Postings
    • Poems
    • A Letter from the Secluded Sisters of the Missouri Valley
    • Halloween Stories for Pacifists
    • How to Avoid Talking about Sports
    • Icebreaker Questions
    • Regional News
  • Summer 2021
    • General News
    • Community Postings
    • Poems
    • Apologies
    • A Letter from the Secluded Sisters of the Missouri Valley
    • Regional News You Might Have Missed
    • New Rules for the Monthly Open Mics
    • A Recipe for Fruit Pizza that Can Save a Relationship
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