Up for none and down for nothing
The fever that had gripped us dissipated
Leaving so suddenly that the previous scripts were still in place
Bewildering to perform the rote actions, even more pointless now in the light of day

Clear eyed though, we told ourselves fictions
That the fog had lifted for good
The new certainty, the new normalcy, we averred
That we would only deal with the lingering mist going forward
That the righteous hubris that just yesterday opened wounds could be foregone
Up for none, we played our role

Still, best to forget the previous direction, the wounds inflicted
Purification ceremonies have their chaperones, midwives to earlier indecencies
For shame's inconvenience is soothed by the passing of time
From fictions spring received notions
The balm of stories we tell ourselves to relieve the burden of ignorance

Rewriting the script with the assured rhetoric of the misled
Gaps, ellipses, things that are suddenly unmentioned
Unmentionable in the polite society of striving simians
Smothered by all too conventional wisdom, these truths
Up for none, then, and down for nothing

Up for none, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note (spotify version)

• Keep on Movin' by Soul II Soul
• Don't Look Back by The Tempations
• Up for the Down Stroke by Parliament
• How Soon We Forget by Colonel Abrams
• Back to Life by Soul II Soul
• Up and Down by Ray Prim
• Forget Me Nots by Patrice Rushen
• Don't Look Back by Bobby Womack
• But Not For Me by Ahmad Jamal
• Up and Down by Horace Parlan
• Don't Look Back by Ramsey Lewis

This note is part of a series: In a covidious time.

File under: culture, observation, perception, regret, Buyer's Remorse, poetry, toli

Writing log: May 16, 2023

Just past the circumlocution office
Working in the obfuscation quarter
Dogon turanci as the Hausa say
Long-winded sentences, empty phrases

For when the content of one's thought is blanketed by evasion
Comes the turn to bureaucratese and the many uses of euphemism
Couched as higher learning such is the defense mechanism
Leading with this badge proudly proffered to escape derision

Sesquipedalian in intent and strategy
Winding down with a touch of verbosity
A facility with words intended to obscure
Prolix pronouncements and significations

Significations, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note (spotify version)

• Don't Say Nuthin' by The Roots
• Empty Talk by Alvin Robinson
• So Watcha Sayin' by EPMD
• Long Winded by Blahzay Blahzay
• What'd I Say by Ray Charles
• Don't Say Nuthin' (remix) by The Roots
• Blah Blah Blah by Blahzay Blahzay

File under: humour, language, hatchet job, misdirection, culture, observation, perception, absurd, poetry, toli

Writing log. May 9, 2023

Voluntary separation
Consider it an opportunity
If it fits with your plans
Might as well take the money

Take the offer, for sure, it's a tough call
For, who knows, the next time will be involuntary
It isn't pretty, you know, when the ax falls
Firings, unemployment, turmoil, redundancies

Take the buyout, it's relatively generous too
Just surprising that they'd pay you to leave
Pitching it as early retirement or the chance for something new
Ignoring entirely all the tales they were spinning just last week

To their credit, they aren't handling it like others in the industry
The fashion of layoffs is catching, albeit their choices are arbitrary
Impersonal, the casual cruelty of what they call restructuring activities
But no doubt it still hurts to have them talk of performance calibration
Empty phrases: managing the attrition curve, structural costs reduction

Voluntary Separation, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note (spotify)

• Buyout by The Floozies
• Can't Afford You Mad Cobra
• All I Have to offer you (is me) by Charley Pride
• Buyout by Esham
  Imagining what one would do with the proceeds of the Chrysler buyout. Cautionary tales have their own soundtrack
• Your Mess by Omar
• I'm a Mess by Anthony Hamilton
• Dog Days are Over by Florence and the Machine
• All Good Things (Come to an End) by Nelly Furtado
• Unexpected Things by Hohzo
• Severance by Street Fever

Bonus beats Get Rid Ah Dem by Sizzla

...

Previously, in the same vein:

• Restructuring Activities
• A Resource Action
• Workforce Rebalancing
• A Message from our Leader
• Involuntary Termination

File under: language, bureaucracy, work, economics, corporation, culture, job, USA, observation, poetry, perception, capitalism, humour, satire, The Rough Beast, toli

Writing log: May 12, 2023

At approximately 1:30 this afternoon, a student brandished a gel blaster gun and began using it in the hallways. The student was immediately apprehended by staff and was detained by our Student Resource Officer. The campus was placed on a "Hold" from 1:30–1:55 p.m. while staff and [redacted] police made sure the area was safe.

Please remind your children about the dangers of students bringing certain items, including toy guns, to school. Possession of any type of weapon — including a toy — is a serious violation of the [redacted] Student Code of Conduct.

...

We need to have a talk, my children
You're old enough to hear the deal

You do remember, we've had the sex talk already
All that stuff about the birds and the bees

We've had the race talk also, a puzzler that one
When I brought up ignorance, that social disease

But, mark my words, I'm raising you in America
That land of opportunity, with all that it means

Cringe, I know, your father's message, but hear me out on this
Lest I ever hear of you saying that you can't breathe

Far too many lives have been lost, consigned to thoughts and prayers
People just like you, brought low for the most dubious of reasons

Truth be told, this society is funeral minded
I can barely keep up, the litany of hazards we face daily

Knocking on the wrong door, jogging, or simply reaching
We can now add another, but this one is easily avoided

The subject is weapons, the danger is the perception
Some might say that it's a matter of possession

Albeit you might be having a little bit of fun
Careful of the things you carry including toy guns

True, in our family, we've always held that education is war
But the new warfare is metaphorical, don't bring in bows and arrows

I kid you not, it's unfortunate, there's no foolproof protection
Even a raised umbrella can cause no small amount of trouble

So if you must wield a weapon, let it be in the form of your thoughts
And express them judiciously, for no one is promised tomorrow

Your words will carry you but remember
It doesn't cost much to bite your tongue

Do go out of your way to make others comfortable
Proudly wear, as you do, that mask of civility

But make sure that it is only heartfelt outrage
That causes you to be accused of disturbing tranquility

That's all I have for now, I cry at night that you can be viewed as a threat
Despite all of our efforts, this country decidedly fails to protect

That we live in this strange world full of perils including toy guns
Carry on as you were, you're my favorite daughter and son



See previously: Prone, Action Items and Response Consultant

File under: USA, blood, violence, absurd, culture, observation, weapons, modernity, perception, language, bureaucracy, life, poetry, outrage, guns, The Rough Beast, Observers are worried, toli

Writing log. May 8, 2023

Restless joy, unbridled at that
Skipping, ecstatic despite yourself
And a sound issues from primal depths

Elation then, loping and sinuous
Demanding fervently to be shared
Unbidden glee, always in motion

This frantic compulsion
Uncontrollable, effervescent
Restless joy, oh what a feeling

Joy, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note (spotify version)

• Joy by Teddy Pendergrass
• You Bring Me Joy by Anita Baker
• Joy by Blackstreet
• Joy Inside My Tears by Stevie Wonder
• Joy in the Morning by Alton Ellis
• Joy & Pain by Maze ft. Frankie Beverly
• Testify by Sounds of Blackness
• I've Got Joy by CeCe Winans
• Joy by Ledesi
• Joy by Isaac Hayes
• Joy by Whitney Houston
• Happy Feelings by Maze ft. Frankie Beverly

Writing log. May 7, 2023

The fabric of nostalgia
The ease of comfort blankets
Soothing memories of course
And the decisions to forget

Phantom threads of longing
Assembled at cross purposes
Stitching together thoughts
Welcome but fugitive visions

A quilted patchwork emerges
Shielding, lush but utilitarian
These woven cloths draped carelessly
We decipher meaning in their faint patterns

Odes to time lost, and homes too
Places, faces, tastes and touch
Graceful, the sensory elevation
Whither the veins of belonging

Nostalgia, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note (spotify version)

• Nostalgia by Lee Morgan
• One Of Those Good Old Days by Al Green
• Remember by Joshua Redman
• Nostalgia in Times Square by Charles Mingus
• Do you Remember by Jill Scott
• Nostalgia by Roy Hargrove
• Back in the Day by Erykah Badu
• I Remember When by Stan Getz
• The Comfort Zone by Vanessa Williams

File under: nostalgia, wist, memory, culture, longing, observation, perception, poetry, toli

Writing log. May 6, 2023