The Electric Doors Never Stop Eating

Earlier than necessary

electric doors open wide

ushering in employees who either

drank the corporate-issued devotion-to-policy brew

or chose a regular cup of coffee and steeled themselves to slog through

another day of being under the eye and thumb of

cameras and software packages designed to report

each word

each keystroke

to measure productivity, to predict loyalty

to the almighty company

Corporate mission statements decorate walls and computer screens

Remember:

Positive attitudes only

Daily emails politely warn

that questions come with a penalty

When bodies drop under the weight of unattainable goals

and crack like stones

No blood left to squeeze

The boss with the broom sweeps the old dust out

so the doors can welcome in

younger faces ready to bleed for a company

that will demand the impossible

then sweep away the broken pieces

with a broom

Image description – photograph of high-rise businesses overlooking a rocky section of the James River

About the poem:

As rights for workers and conditions for workplace safety continue to erode, the reality hits hard that lawmakers are not coming to help workers. Nobody in politics is coming to provide actually legislative help because their pockets are being lined for staying silent. Since nobody in power is coming to help, it’s up to us to set a precedent, to draw lines, to set limits, and to be loud and obnoxious when we can if subtle strategies and quiet subterfuge fails. Otherwise, the spineless, manipulative, ass-kissers who have sold their souls for the privilege of serving their corporate overlords will continue to perpetrate wage theft, require unattainable goals, tout unrealistic expectations, discriminate both overtly and covertly, and cause unsafe and/or inhumane working conditions.