The Resume'

The parchment in front of you

Outlines briefly my greatest accomplishments.

It says quite clearly that I’ve stepped up to the plate

Publicly leading many to advance in life in various ways.

What it doesn’t say

Is that I’ve also wept alone in a gloomy place,

Wrestling with my own heart

And it’s many conflicting desires.

Forgive me if I’ve crossed

A forbidden "lieu de confort,"

But your desired trust is an assertion

Which includes the mistakes I’m ready to own?

If you read on down the one page you’ve requested,

Admittedly, one page is not much to fit a lifetime;

You will see I’m not lacking in proficiency -

Through the years working tirelessly toward an ideal.

But I’ve also lain awake trembling,

Unable to rest my tormented soul, realizing

The ideal is all too often, undoable.

Documented success, yes,

But you haven’t inquired of my failures-

Too many to count, and font too small to tolerate,

Embarrassingly, non-publishable.

My reference’s catalog a few trustworthy friends

Whom I’ve never crossed, or at least have made amends.

But you will fail to contact

The many bruised and broken credulous people

I’ve wounded years past by deeds defined as evil.

You inquire of my objective,

Searching diligently for an indication

Of my potential place and dispensation

In your corporate structure and relentless pace.

I am capable of telling you what you want to hear -

To belong, work industriously, and join the race.

But truth be told, I simply want to live -

Full of peace and inner contentment,

Where my honesty is accepted,

And my humility embraced.

Am I capable of working for you?

There is no doubt.

Will my work for you define me?

“No” says the alchemist in me

Who dreams of a life worth living,

A goal worth reaching,

And a true love worth finding,

Beyond these four walls.

Here comes the part in the script

Where you ask me if I have any questions.

Humbly, just a few inquiries I submit.

So I ask you sir, here on company time

Yet now vulnerably entering unrehearsed conversation:

Have you ever been where I am?

Have you ever had it all, and lost it with one whim?

Can you remember the last time you were happy?

Are you alive, or feel limited, sitting daily,

Interviewing the newest bee in the hive?

Still I wonder,

   What was your greatest failure,

      And what deep lesson did you learn?

   Where are you the most vulnerable,

      Or don’t you ever yearn?

   Do you look forward to going home,

      Or will you endure another night alone?

Perhaps I’ve crossed again that fine line

Between etiquette and transparency,

Not conforming to the norm I know,

Perhaps overly exhausted with this test of time.

So you have my name and number,

But you and I both know with this long line,

You don’t actually have the schedule

To really discover me, and that's fine,

      But what about discovering you?

Do I want to work in this reputable company?

More than you know, “I will labor diligently.”

But to live…

Even better.

~2011 Vaughn Wood