Finding Strength in Your Own Balance

There’s strength in opportunity –
Being settled, quick, and strong.
But my balance is a scale tipped,
A job gone somewhat wrong…
I fail to meet certain criteria
For the job I should be manning;
Instead of projects, face, and pride
I resort to useless planning!
I make a living clearing the hurdles
Of a mindless, pointless scheme.
My business dealings are silly and dumb,
While my co-workers live the dream…

I drink my coffee from a paper cup,
And organize the timing of routine tasks,
An obvious blunder and redundancy,
It’s routine – one merely asks.
Special dates need an approval
From someone in authority,
So I ask the requestor why it’s needed
And tell my boss the necessity.
The special date is likely approved,
When I determine that everything’s closed;
With certain documents now in place,
The dates are now disclosed…

But balanced on my shoulders
Is the science of pushing paper,
Often causing delays and struggles
In meeting deadlines that are greater.
One could say I’m quite effective,
Clever, charming, and dear;
I make sense of all the requirements,
And when I’m done, they cheer!
But my clear and useful thinking
Cannot be used every instance;
They often clear tasks with my boss,
Before I do my dance.

Then everything’s fine and dandy
Until I’m not around;
My replacements often go crazy –
Their desks, my work has found…
All my co-workers have won awards
By delivering on substantive projects.
But I just hand over set-in-stone dates,
While my pride, everyone protects.
You’ve got to hand it to a company
That gives you employment to go to,
Because nothing is set in stone, for sure,
And my pink-slip is overdue!