the writer
goes at it alone, so he doesn’t have to deal
with bureaucracies
there’s nothing wrong with these institutions
just that they tend to attract flies, like dung heaps.
I said something critical of the poop pile, yesterday
during a performance review
and my competence took a hit
“You shouldn’t have said that,” my boss said.
I was evaluated
for saying the wrong thing
It’s a classic example of the emperor wearing the clothes
and everybody else being naked
All she has to do
is point out your shame
“You work here.”
I’ve been trying to write after work
but my brain feels
hot and bothered
If I just write-down the crap, the way it is
the writing is crap
there has to be some kind of magic, that turns it into something else
It can’t be a transcript
because that wouldn’t make sense
the writer makes sense
of the truth.
People jockey for positions
inside the organization
by saying
something… anything
that puts them ahead of somebody else.
It’s horrifying, that horses run in a circle
there’s an untamed wilderness out there
but the longer you work in a bureaucracy, the more useless you become
until you are replaceable
and somebody feeds you, clothes you, and tells you
where to go.
It’s not all bad, though—
there’s security
until you decide to be free
and then, the once beautiful world is terrifying.
Intellectual Shaman 
I work in a bureaucracy, and have long since concluded that all such systems are intrinsically corrupt. Still need the income, though…
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Yes indeed! 🙂 And the job security! 🙂 And the writing inspiration! 🙂
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I like your insight. Writing of the madness of working in a bureaucracy you seem to have found a way to find some writing magic.
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Yes indeed, Suzanne! Tears turn into smiles through transmutation! 🙂
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Beautiful expose into the nonsense fed to us by institutional thinking. The most beautiful part, that freedom, even though terrifying to attain, was never lost in the first place. It is only hibernating, as the radiance of the soul yearning to escape the dungeon we inevitably placed it within. Thank you for sharing this reminder.
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Thanks for reading, and for your thoughts Dr. Thomas Maples!
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Ain’t that true. My observation is that the writer must imbibe the gritty, unenthusiastic drivel of lives uninterested. The people who do things because they must, because “thats the way things are”, and transmute it into a magical piece of art people can derive hope from. But then again, it feels like feeding a snake, a snake who must do things because thats the way things are…
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Well… I do think we are all telling ourselves a story about our lives to make meaning from it. The writer can do this–heck, anybody can do it! Without a good story, this existence can get pretty bleak. So, here’s to the story tellers! Good thoughts Cherokee! 🙂
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