Kansas

 

 

Miles per hour
the wind blew so hard


Things that were inside
flew out to the yard -


Rosemary, parsley, shoe laces

wheat –

 

Hair spray, tooth paste

socks for my feet –

 

Goldfish and castles

a spoon from my hand

 

Stop watches, Grandfather

hour-glass sand -

 

 

It sucked up the vacuum
and left there instead

A cuddle of bunnies
from under the bed -

 

10 Birthday candles

once again blown -

 

and curtains with seams
no longer sewn

The wind blew so hard
and came with it rain


It made every window
feel all the pane -


It blew out the chair
where I sat and read


and left someone's Chevy
parked there instead -


Milk bottles tipped
& lay on their side

tears that were shed
now already dried -

 

 After the storm
when rubble is thick

that's when a branch
becomes just a stick -

A sad sight indeed
not much left to say -

For still in my laces
I too blew away.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Not Worth Mentioning

Day Dream

My boss occasionally catches me

day dreaming

He’ll see me staring off into space

as if I’m in a trance  

my thoughts miles from this factory

with its noises and smells

its warning signs and safety glasses

Mentally I'd be far, far away from lab coats and clipboards

and 

light-years from any time clocks –

When they hired me they hired my mind

and day-dream is just one of the things it does.



As if it really matters at this point.

I’m not entirely sure what a systems analyst is or does but if I were to make a guess I’d say it is a person who examines the individual components and inter-connected relationships of those components within a system in an effort to search out weak links and then provide ways of improving the process.

 

            For example, let’s pick out one system and see what we find.  How about something we all can relate to, like food.  We’ll start off with just a sketchy overview.  We’ll begin with the farmer.  The farmer is a highly educated person who uses his knowledge of soil, weather patterns, chemicals, supply and demand, as well as equipment to produce his product.

            Of course there are a multitude of variables that follow, depending on the type of crops the farmer produces, but as this is just a sketchy overview we’ll just say the next step in our system is processing.  The science of processing has evolved greatly over the years, adding safety and product life to the things we consume.

            We can combine packaging and marketing into one category, even though they are very different and complex systems, each having their own sophisticated structures and disciplines. Anyone working in either of these fields must have excelled in psychology and engineering respectively.   

 

            A key component to all this is transportation.  We have to get the product to market and it is all very expensive and time sensitive.  We could spend an entire year examining this system alone.

 

            The supermarket, with its rows and rows of well-lit shelves is a computer controlled environment and must be a clean and inviting place, staffed with a management team that watches over all aspects of the business, from inventory control, and stock rotation and presentation to customer service and everything in between.

 

            This brings us to the bagboy or packer of your order; usually a high school student whose thoughts are on everything but the task at hand.  He or she has had very little education and absolutely no training.  They stand unaware of the effects of gravity, Newton’s Laws, the theories of cause and effect or anything about structural integrity. They remain oblivious to the item their hand has just grabbed and shoved onto the soft and very susceptible loaf of bread.

            Unconcerned with the damage, destruction and havoc they’re about to wreak on your groceries, they stare ahead blankly, without so much as a spark of awareness - mentally practicing their line; “Paper or plastic?”

 

           

 

What Time Is It ?

 

 

Time to move.

 

 



Class of 41

 

 

 

 

 

 

You haven't changed a bit.

 

 



Business 101