Beetlebung and Kettlehole--April Poems

Dear Director of Human Resources

Dear Director of Human Resources


With due respect
to your high wall of blind diligence
wandering generalities
tidied cheer
for competitive advantage,

Just how do you weigh people
while you hold your breath
in your birdcage
and recruit for approach, measure for skill

while you resist passion,
a time-tested, specific
energy?

What if I tried reverse psychology?
What if I made you believe people are magical
and tattooed on their senses is the world?
Could I seduce you
with vision, with humanity?
Would the art of it teach you to exhale?

--

Prompt: use a phrase from an actual letter in title, epigraph, and/or poem