Thomas Fink

BID-NESS

They had                                                                         a wonderful 
      climb, &                                                               I’m only 
             thinking                                                 about the 
                   rent. The                                       hat is 
                        gonna fly                                off.
                           Eckert &                           CVS  
                         were owned                      by the 
                          same mother                  company.
                           Departments                merged; 
                             jobs merged.            These are 
                             working class          people 
                            like you & me.       Broke 
                            up his life. The    market’s
                           that good? The Empire State 
                             Building  has   changed colors. 
                          & he’ll just sit      on it, & it goes 
                         up & down.           He makes like—
                       double her?              Production asso
                     ciate’s more                 responsibility. She 
                 does the work,                         & he gets the 
             extra credit                                         card. You 
          keep your                                                 personal              
        life sepa                                                      rate from 
      your                                                                   office. 
   From                                                                      “I’m 
  getting                                                                       fired,” 
she                                                                               comes 

back the                                                                                next day                                                           
      & says,                                                                       “I got a                                                   
           raise. No                                                         one has                  
                   gotten a                                             raise like                                    
                       this.” So                                     I say, “I 
                          don’t love                           what you 
                              do; I love                     you.” Every
                             one thinks                   everyone’s 
                               doing some             thing. I lost 
                                     my ticket.        My company 
                                         is being      sold. Been
                                        meaning      to leave. I 
                                      should. I        intend to. 
                                       Righto.          With my          
                                        back                ground? 
                                     Come                  on.  We 
                                    don’t                     want to
                                  sit back                    wards. You 
                                should                         move every 
                              5 years.                            It’s part of 
                            the dy                                namics. Your 
                          thumb                                      doesn’t  stay  
                        in the                                             same place.   
                     There                                                     has to be 
                  an intel                                                       ligence in 
                your                                                              thumb. Be  
              attuned                                                                to  every 

single bump                                                                      in the road.  
          A lot of                                                               my friends 
               are on a                                                     rollercoaster. 
                     On so                                               many levels. 
                       I own                                           a lot of    
                     properties                                    that I  
                        don’t even                              give a 
                        damn about.                         They’ll 
                               never go                      away: 
                                    Stupid                  numbers.   
                                      We are              expected 
                                         to sell           this to 
                                        people           we have 
                                     no lever            age  or 
                                     control              over.  & 
                                   it’s busy                season.
                               You need                   to work 
                             so that the                     pitch 
                              becomes                         natural 
                            again. It’s                           the sure
                          ness of the                           line. In
                          the gulf, I                            give life
                        time guaran                         tee. You’ll 
                         be  selling                          dishwashers. 
                        6 product                           ranges. Chin
                         ese  &                               Koreans will 
                          be buy                             ing. Because 

we were                                                                                      invited to.      
   This war                                                                           works out 
         for us. How                                                           much for 
                uniforms?                                                  I’d like to 
                      place an                                            order to 
                      go. A large                                     spare ribs 
                        with love. Is                               he excited 
                          to go? Raging                         wings. It’s 
                              been raining                     in  Brazil 
                               since Decem                  ber. Where 
                                  they had sev              eral 100 
                                     women pull           ing out 
                                   trees. Sounds          like they 
                                   got that 90%           done. Do 
                                     you have                backup 
                                   today? Wall              to wall 
                                     glass. The             outcome 
                                       of that                executive 
                                      meeting.              I  see  3 
                                       people                that haven’t 
                                     been listen            ing. & inter
                                    active pass             words that 
                                    need to be               deleted. 
                                   Might want              to stand 
                                   by the door            so no one 
                                  comes in or              goes out.
                                  I’m going to              bring it 

back to the                                                                              chapter. We 
        want to see                                                           20 people really 
              working on it.                                        Leadership across 
                          divisions is                         where we fall 
                           short. You’ll                   see what 
                                   happens                going 
                                      forward.           I’ll do 
                                      our best            to get 
                                       to the              bottom.
                                      Radical             in what 
                                      way? A             weed is 
                                   something         you don’t 
                                   want in its           place. I 
                                 understand            you’re 
                                  living in a              tight 
                                   area, but             I’m try
                                  ing to pre             serve 
                                  some cap            ital here. 
                                    Maybe              some are 
                                 still vacant.          I think it 
                                  said “un            paid.” Why 
                                   would               you open  
                                 a mall in            the middle 
                                of a lake?             When I 
                                have sen             iority over 
                               people. . . .           
                                Now that  

                                                                                I’ve turned 50, I’ve                           
learned to limit                                             what I say. Niagara
       Falls was the ex                               caption. Truthfully,
               unless you have                    this control, & I
                   don’t. The world             is full of people
                           who can play         fast. Too          
                                  many. &         say to the         
                                 customer:        “Sorry, I          
                                 can’t sup         ply.” Why 
                                  are we            always so
                                 grossly             out  of 
                               step? To            be able to 
                                hear the             shapes. 
                               Balanced            by resist
                            ance. Kinda            wanna 
                           get the skinny          from 
                              you & see            what I 
                              can do on           my end. 
                               You will            use your 
                                head to            steady the 
                                 instru                ment.   
                               Thanks              for join
                              ing. The             
                             opportun
                              ity we’re 
                             exploring 
                               now is 
                                over 

                                                                               at Merck with regards                                                   
                                                                   to tablets. He took 
something that exists                            & made it even 
           better than it is. That            is loaded  into 
                                   our test        environment. 
                                   Congrat       ulations: I’ve 
                                     never           heard of it, 
                                   but we’ll         talk about 
                                  it when I          get home. 
                                  I’ll  do             what I can 


                                  on the            internet first. 
                                  You’ll            come, & it’ll 
                                 be a big           help. Most 
                                 people            skim those 
                               things so          fast any
                                how. Do  
                                 I  what 
                                  now? 
                                No one’s 
                                 discover
                                  ed this 
                                    box.    

Thomas Fink is the author of five books of poetry, most recently Clarity and Other Poems (Marsh Hawk P, 2008) and two books of criticism. Two chapbooks appeared in 2009, Generic Whistle-Stop (Portable Press at Yo Yo Labs) and Yinglish Strophes 1-19 (Truck Books). He is the co-editor of a 2007 critical anthology on David Shapiro's poetry. Fink's paintings hang in various collections.

 
 
 
 
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