BTS Syndrome

After the first cuts,
a force inside the skull
pulls the eyes in deep
as if to shield the soft
white balls from something savage.
After the second cuts,
and enthusiastic claims
from leadership, “We’re on
the way from good to great!”
a force inside the ribs
pulls the shoulders down
and draws the arms in close.
After the third cuts
and the admonition,
“Work smarter, not harder”,
a force inside the belly
curves the spine and clips
the stride as if to curl
the whole into a ball.
Wait and chant the mantra,
“It’s just business, nothing personal.”
Though beat to shit, be glad:
The smiling man from
Human Resources hasn’t
called you in to chat just yet.

Gary Hardaway was born October 24, 1950 and has earned his living as an
architect and urban planner.  He lives with his wife, Joan Reese, in Plano,
Texas. He developed a taste for reading poetry at 16 and began to write at 17.
He admires the poems of T. S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens, Seamus Heaney, Phillip
Larkin, and Mark Strand but especially values the work of Elizabeth Bishop.