Paralysed

We recruit for the long run, they said

Only the best

A cut above the rest

Those who will stand the test

Of pressure and time

And the bottom line

But they lied

I was cast aside

At the first turn of the tide

Now I’m left paralysed.

It made no difference

That I committed body and soul

Met every goal

More than fulfilled my role

They sucked me dry

Then someone cast the die

The memo was sent

And my life was rent

Apart

At the heart

My number was called

Something about the organisation being overhauled

Downsized

Rightsized

(Right for who?)

So they lied

And I am left

Bereft

Paralysed.

People are our most important asset, they said

Yet how quick they are to trash it

As soon as they need to cash it

And do not tell me the process is fair

When it depends on the square

You land on

The label they brand on

Ladders for up, snakes for down

There’s only one game in town

And it’s built on lies

Someone always dies

Or, like me, is left paralysed.

There are other opportunities, they said

But my heart’s no longer in it

They can take it and bin it

I refuse to hobnob

To get a new job

When I’ve only just been robbed

Something has died inside

Maybe it’s pride

But I’m getting wise

To their lies

That have left me paralysed.

I guess I’ll have to snap out of it, I say

But I don’t really know how

For now

I can’t see what is to gain

By going through the pain

All over again

I’m just coping

Hoping

That along the way

The sun will shine on a new day

That I’ll see the world through new eyes

That my life will re-energise

And rise

Above the lies

I so despise

That keep me paralysed.

(20.11.03)

© Wayne Visser

Wayne Visser is the author of Beyond Reasonable Greed: Why Sustainable Business is a Much Better Idea (with Clem Sunter, Human & Rousseau Tafelberg, 2002) and South Africa: Reasons to Believe (with Guy Lundy, Aardvark Press, 2003). He is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility, Nottingham University Business School, UK. Contact: wayne@waynevisser.com, www.waynevisser.com, http://www.waynevisser.com/poetry.htm He says, "In many ways, my poetry is what I live for. It is my chosen way of creative expression." For more about this author, click Authors. To send us your comments: Click FEEDBACK