TEAM-BUILDING MEETING 1

The gods and goddesses convened and after much vehement debate, opted that the human world or plateau as they called it, would end on a Monday to give their underlings a last-hurrah weekend though the creatures wouldn’t be privy to the foreknowledge of their impending doom.

It’s best they don’t know, the god of fire chimed in. They’d end the world on their own, go out with a bang and rob me of the finale I’ve been waiting for with my bated breath that would, with the assistance of the goddess of wind, take out every city, one by one. He beamed and chuckled.

It’s much too soon, the goddess of light contended—my work hasn’t been fully realized yet. The earth inhabitants have learned quite a lot. They really try, you know, to learn best practices for cohabitating peacefully, for not destroying what we’ve bequeathed to them. Furthermore, Human Resources has desks piled with troves of applicants to join the Chorus.

I agree, the goddess of hope pronounced. They do really try even though they often lose me. Eventually, they come around and notice all the gifts bestowed upon them, invisible means for getting through everything thrown at them—all that death, disease, destruction, betrayal, selfishness, greed, ugliness, suffering.   

Ignoring the goddesses of light and hope, the leader of the demonic spirits spoke emphatically, We’ll let them have their Monday morning coffee, of course, and take them out on the way to their day jobs that they despise anyway. Some of them will be happy about their hamster-wheel, cubicle-life-grind ending. We’re doing them a favor. He smiled nervously, knowing that his colleagues didn’t believe his seemingly kind-hearted rationale.

It will be easier if we end things before their coffee, the goddess of practicality, consistently pragmatic, asserted. Let them be half asleep, one foot in the dream world.

The god of dreaming piped in, no, that’s not fair—to end their lives with a nightmare. They should go out as peacefully as possible, wrapped in a cocoon of peaceful sleep, dreaming of summer vacations with those they love, swimming at low tide, fantastic star travel.

The sky goddess spoke, which was a surprise to the Chorus, as she was quite shy at large, formal meetings—they look up at me all the time, study my cloud pillows waltzing slowly with the wind goddess, cower when gray and other shades of darkness collect for a storm, that green light before a hurricane. With their necks dipped back, their upturned faces beseech my stars for permanence, steadiness, signs for their awkward travel, for where they began before the god of breath and goddess of being sent them to the god of time.

Afraid of being out of a job, the god of breath, goddess of being, and god of time, who stood together in a triangle, nodded their heads in unison. The god of breath spoke first, we have a contract, you know. The god of time fumbled with his hundred and forty-four pocket watches but said nothing. The goddess of being finally interrupted the awkward silence—we’ll have to reconvene next month, the pizza is here!

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7 Responses to TEAM-BUILDING MEETING 1

  1. Thom says:

    Ah, The Bureaucracy Celestial.

    “We’ll let them have their Monday morning coffee, of course, and take them out on the way to their day jobs that they despise anyway. Some of them will be happy about their hamster-wheel, cubicle-life-grind ending. We’re doing them a favor. He smiled nervously, knowing that his colleagues didn’t believe his seemingly kind-hearted rationale”.

    Nicey-nice. You voiced me almost perfectly there. @-@

  2. Tin Penny Peter says:

    Thank God, for sure!
    A new poem on time
    For the real, the real
    Friday pizza nite. What kind…
    Thanatos with peccadillos?
    Heavy on the heartbeats, pray tell
    Thanks be to the poet God [esse]
    In her poet castle, alas [easy]
    High on Poet Hill [essay]
    Built brick upon brick
    Of golden, ornamental, sun-baked stone
    Within the ordinances, without gridlock
    Shining before sunsets, sunsets born of sunrises
    A confession without concession
    An unconcealed recollection!

  3. Ti Pin says:

    Please, seriously, just publish another. Why kill us like this? To death and all, with the suspense? These are all phenomenal. If you don’t access great acclaim, I’ll eat my sandal and jump into Mt. Etna.

    • Krysia Jopek says:

      Thank you for the comments! I’ve been under the weather, unfortunately. We’ll see what I write next when my brain is working creatively again. Thank you for reading my work.

  4. But a month with no poem is unfair. I object.

  5. People have a hard time collapsing
    Everything they know
    Into an expression
    That can be taught, learned, compartmentalized, commemorated,
    Immortalized.

    God I love humanity
    God, I love humanity
    God I love, humanity, what should
    I do? I am not entitled to even my own
    Immortality.

    Empedocles lived
    In Italy before it was even
    IT-alia and before
    He ever lived
    In AGRI-gento.

    The temple there
    Is the temple here.
    People have it hard, everywhere.
    They collapse and the doctor
    Steps up, steps in.

    How will incubation heal you?
    How will you be great again?

    I think I love
    Taylor Swift, too.

  6. Yes,
    It would be an honor,
    Socrates, to have you
    Stay with us,
    For a “coupla” weeks,
    Please. Do.
    -Parmenides

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