Human Resources

A Poem by Blake Fodor

One cog in a big machine
Oil -slicked, well-worn, smelling of burnt grease
One small drop of human resource
In a big pool of desperate-smelling fish

Today we made the equivalent of
Paper-plate bean shakers for
The amusement of the executives
You know, those little rattle things
Where you take some dried beans
Two paper plates
Glue them face-up together
With the beans in the middle
Wait until dry
Then shake the holy sh.it out of them
Until the glue lets go and
The beans sort of
Just
Fall
Out

When I was in kindergarten we made
Dozens of these to “keep us busy”
Between book readings and naps
Idle hands, you see
They like to explore and be creative
The teacher never cared how well
Our arts and crafts were plied
Neither does upper management

Tomorrow we may be making
Macaroni pictures into flowcharts
Which may be
Better received