Poetry

The Death Of Craftsmanship

Derisive comments didn't work;
The old man just kept on working,
As if he never heard the many scathing remarks.
And the more that he produced
The better and quicker he became,
Which only served to worsen the problem.
His perspective, although narrow, was enhanced by concentration,
And tempered with the wisdom and work ethic of the "Old-School."
While contributing significantly to his job.
This only deepened the jealousy and enmity of his Supervisor.
Then, trumped-up accusations of failures,
Assignments missed that were never initially communicated,
And false blaming of inadequacies finally found their mark.
In his vulnerability the old man kept silent,.
Kept on working, perplexed, but harder and longer than ever.
Thinking he would surely break,
The Supervisor piled on more and more work.
The old man worked even harder and longer
And was criticized more and more.
Then one day the old man's body gave up,
And he had a massive heart attack.
Without the old man's production
The work stacked up.
The Supervisor redistributed the load to other workers,
But they were not familiar with the duties or used to the load.
Project after project missed important deadlines,
And the quality of the work that was performed was very poor.
Many clients were lost, whole accounts closed down,
And new business could not be found anywhere.
Eventually the business failed,
Dying as certain a death as had the old man,
For the same reasons, and by the same hand.

John W. Chance

Ye Olde Wordsmith

With each blow sparks flew out into the air,
Traces of light whose hot, incandescent flashing streaks
Scorched their marks in the nothingness that previously existed, leaving
Only a hint of the Toil, and strife, and Sweat of the Smithie as he
labored with his tools. Blow after blow, so hard-hitting and mighty
Sent sparks issuing forth again and again and again;
How hard it must be to shape such an ethereal mass, to change its form,
To force it into line with that which it is supposed to be
or, at least, that which is desired. Ahh ... finished at last, the smithie straightened and
Wiped his brow, a smile slowly creasing his once-sterned visage;
Laying aside his tools, he moved away from his anvil, peering at his work;
Turning it back and forth in the light to inspect every side, every angle, every possible view. Satisfied at last, the Smithie drew a great breath.
And with audible sigh he released all of the pent-up tension built
From this last, Great effort; this fusion of this emotion with will,
of thought with material;
His work now finished, he folded it carefully and slipped it inside the envelope, hoping the Editor
Would like his Poem.

John W. Chance

I would rather live a short life honestly,

then a long life of,

Lies, Deciet,, and Hypocrisy.

Kimberley Elmore Petross

Promoting AKC's Canine Good Citizen® (CGC) Program

A.K.C. CGC Evaluator, contact me for training, or testing!

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