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Saturday 2 June 2012


Sales Meeting


You’d think,
To watch them posture
In the preposterous private
Of their prosperous scene,
That all meaning’s been reduced
To who’s produced the greatest gain,
Or, avoided interruption, by the
Challenging corruption of a
Real and feeling pain.
Yet; they remain.
The same, year after year
They reappear to swill stale beer
And, hear how well their own
Poor padded cell’s performed.
Be warned!
Their mouths move with a motion
Which circumscribes
All that the eye requires
To be inspired.
Yet,  just one,
Alert attentive ear,
Can hear quite clearly,
How they’re really mouthing
Madness.

How can a man,
Take this once, forever trip
With no questions on his lip
As to the reason why?

© James Rainsford 2012


Note to readers: Posted as my contribution to the 'work' challenge by Stuart at dVerse Poets.
I'll respond to all who visit here and leave a comment.  

10 comments:

  1. I've seen so much of this, though when you're in it the scene does not feel so much like insanity as being a race against time. What is maddening is the stupidity of others (of course :). I must say that I enjoy the job, given the adrenaline rush, and the novelty of ever-changing software. But Indo know that this is quite illusory from a metaphysical vantage point, so I try to maintain a sense of perspective. Your poem is therefore a welcome sign to keeping these events in realistic frame of reference.

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  2. James- I work in sales. I don't know how I managed up being there- but I did ...and thisnisnso so true...it kills me! The same lines, the same words, spilled out of the same mouths- sell more! Make more money! We need to understand the key drivers - it actually makes me laugh it's that ridiculous....why do we allow it to perpetuate. Very strongly written piece here,- 'mouthing madness' I just know this completely

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  3. worked in sales...its all about the numbers baby and you do what ever it takes to sell it...have you seen boiler room...ha...yeah that is about it...smiles.

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  4. I do think it takes a special kind of person to survive in sales. My brother-in-law tried it, didn't survive it. He was too honest.

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  5. That's a question I've often asked--how can people believe the obviously wrong to be right? Excellent alliteration, crisp writing and spot on observations in this, James.

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  6. I've been in scores and scores of these sales meetings, and though they vary in scope and relevance, you've captured here the most inane of them, meetings for the sake of having meetings, where the world remains unchanged no matter how earth-shattering the numbers are.

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  7. Great rhythm to this.... it would be so nice to stop the madness, wouldn't it?

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  8. Oh, brilliant! Especially

    "To watch them posture
    In the preposterous private
    Of their prosperous scene,"

    And the last stanza wraps it up nicely, brings back all that blue sky thinking, team playing!

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  9. Mighty good question! You capture quite well, the posturing many do their entire lives. It is the way they're taught to be, I suppose. Nice write!

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  10. Oh I love how you painted the repetitive, unoriginal blah blah blah of the sales meeting, the swill of stale beer etc very good write.

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If you wish your views and opinions to be published here, please be polite and respectful. I welcome feedback on my work and will try to respond if you take the trouble to post a comment. Thanks for visiting 'The Sanctum of Sanity.' Hope you enjoyed the experience, James.