Carrie Shipers : “Perhaps not surprisingly, many of the so-called ‘corporate’ poems I’ve been writing in the past few years are drawn from my experiences in academia. In this piece, I wanted very much to capture the voice of those responsible for planning the CEO’s visit—how even their most obnoxious instructions are actually inspired by good intentions and desperation: if they plan everything exactly right, and also if they can get the ‘you’ to cooperate for the day, then perhaps—perhaps—they can save everyone’s jobs. (For the record, the potluck, the refusal to answer process questions, and the mission statements in the restroom are all true. The happy ending is that I now work elsewhere.)” (web)
