~ self help ~
a surprise gift on my desk today:
a small paperback
with positive color and pointing arrows,
packed full of promises
of perfecting my personality;
meant to mold it
into another corporate citizen
who will nod and smile unquestioningly
at perfunctory platitudes
that stoke the share price,
and distract us from the realization
that we ourselves are but stock
in a world of cowering complicity,
from which I willingly help myself.