in front of your powerful computer
you type away
making the document that will restore faith
in business forever
six parts backspace and one part enter key
the lines permeate your hard drive
as they permeate your soul
you have been thoroughly acclimated
by a painstaking process
of do this don’t do that
etcetera
and the coffee machine sits idling at the ready
for the moment when it will answer your call
today your cup is empty
but yesterday
it overflowethed
with the bitter drink of diagrams and estimated
rates of return
someplace long ago you hid your claws
and you don’t recall exactly where
you were glad to be rid of them
because talons and cufflinks do not an outfit make
stand from your chair now and again
to ruminate
to elevate
to make the tattered world beneath you small
your cubicle contains you but
nothing contains you as you confront the iron will
of bus-i-ness
do not be deceived
though the plush carpeting masks your footsteps
you are not silent
you leap into action with a mighty stroke of the keyboard
and deliver your product
to your supervisor
one section heading at a time
your sagging ass flaps in the air conditioning
as you roam the corridors of your office complex
looking for answers
trying to be reasonable
the rain falls upon the globe
but not upon your head
because you are safe
you are secure
summer storms cannot touch you
because you are good and pure
you are not an animal
you are a man
a businessman
a bus-i-ness-man
like a superman
a fellow creature that seeks to vanquish and destroy
only when necessary
on your own terms
the terms of your company
the terms of your CEO
a drawerfull of paper clips and brightly colored markers
to be dispatched the world over
at your behest
following only slightly behind
the searing reach of your email
a rocket filled with statistical analysis
no one who is not you can ever hope
to comprehend
you look down at the parking lot
and you laugh
a hearty laugh
a man’s laugh
a businessman’s laugh
because you drive a fully automatic luxury automobile
and your parking space is reserved
so when the day draws to its finish
and a million erasers sweep clean a million dry-erase boards
you will enter your car
and go home
a prodigy
an enlightened prodigy
there to sleep in preparation for
the new day
you are David Birmingham
the name that has felled a million would-be scoundrels
and your work is unto a great dam before the financial networks of the world
capital grows and swells behind you
and you alone will choose when to let it free
free to power neighborhoods
and schools
free to drown the innocent should your analysis fall short
but it will not
because you are David Birmingham
and you are a beacon of hope
and responsibility
you do your job with honor
and all your efforts
someday
will be rewarded
not only with the bounty of your swelling 401(k)
but with the smiling faces of humanity
looking out at you
from behind plexiglass windshields
with repose upon their lips