You preen your knowledge in avian displays,
flaunt your extra years, the places you have been,
all gendered superiority. You couch advice
with such sweet terms, commands for the honey,
untroubled when your suggestions provoke susurrations.
With each look , each word you axe another shoot
off my tree, off his tree. Because an employee
is a company’s most valued asset.
Just not its roots, heartwood nor crown.
findingtimetowrite 
Ha! Clever thoughts. k.
Thank you! Clever, or perhaps just a little angry…
Marina Sofia – Oh, you’ve gotten that spot on!! Spot on!!
Many years of the receiving end, I suppose.
Ooooh, a familiar situation…
Sadly, yes, it is rather too familiar.
That preening reminded me of one who could strut like a peacock, to and fro in an office flanked by wall to floor glass windows, overlooking their empire. Much prefer them in the wild. 🙂
You are absolutely right – it was the corporate world I was thinking of and the bullying managers who are allowed to get away with … very nearly murder.
This CEO even bullied the Managers by asking the receptionists to note the minute every person stepped out of the lift in the morning. 8.01am meant you were late and each month a memo was sent to the offenders with a list of their time infringements. I was grateful to be temping and declined the offer of a permanent job!
I have a student here who works for a large corporate, where he informs me, that since they have moved to a much smaller office, the company has imposed silence on all staff. He tells me many of the staff are suffering from depression. Is this akin to modern day slavery? It sounds like it to me.
“susurrations” – such a yummy word!
One of my favourites – does all that it promises!
Ouch, I probably do that more than I should too.
Though I can’t follow the judgement.
Is the axe helpful, painful, cruel or kind? Of all of those?
Loved the flow of the story.
Hmmm, interesting question – I just assumed it was cruel, but now that you mention it…
smiles…i enjoy the language in your poem…like sabio i would wonder at the intentions as in the beginning i was thinking of pruning that allows a tree to grow, but then of course lopping them off purposelessly or for your own pleasure is no good…
The way to hell is paved with good intentions. And I want to believe the intentions are good, they are merely being thoughtless and careless. I was doing a workshop for senior executives and the way they talked about their people/wives/maids riled me a little.
Spot on and so right. Keep writing…..xx
A powerful ending…. Sad when they cannot see the forest for the trees…..