The Meeting
Eight cold drinks with straws
One face talking, nineteen bored.
No one's taking notes.
My boss bites her nails
Her boss talks and talks and talks.
He hears nobody.
Spreadsheet on the screen
Take it for reality
You can do this job.
Two criteria
But one is "criterion"
It's all Greek to him.
Some of us believe
We are only important
If we talk in here.
Red hair black hair bald
Brown hair blond hair strawberry
And gray, that one is me.
My water bottle
Brushed aluminum, dented
Too bad it's empty.
We're behind schedule.
Every minute counts, he says.
Why are we still here?
Words keep pouring out
I am now the champion
At bullshit bingo!
If I push my eyes
With my thumbs and forefingers
I see pretty lights.
Look at all the feet
Under the conference tables
Some of us have socks.
Sixty minutes gone
Seventy, seventy-five
He has a freeze ray.
Cracking myself up
"Hey Em are you okay there?"
I am so busted.
Giggling makes me cry
and gives me a runny nose
Sniffling passes time.
Someone leaves the room,
Comes back with a Fig Newton.
Hey! That isn't fair!
Eighty-five minutes.
Oh my god it's not over.
Wait! He's winding down.
Tick tock tick tock tick
Tock tick tock tick tock tick tock
I'm going to die.
If you talk again
I'll shoot you, I swear to God.
Murder in my mind.
One minute remains
He's running out the damn clock
Just to piss me off.
Oh my fucking god
Ninety five unrecoverable
Minutes of my life.