Over the past few years, I’ve had the luxury of many good days at work – as well as the drive, imagination, and education to turn a few bad days into poems.
I’ve had the discipline to carve out some small portion of the day, over many months, to work those poems into a series of books called the Lonesome Companies trilogy.
Along the way, I’ve had distractions and hesitations delaying the release of this final volume by 18 months at least. But those moments have always been timely. They’ve helped me put the book aside when I was ready to delete the whole thing. They’ve allowed me to work on other things I plan to publish soon. Whenever I’ve come back to the work, I’ve returned with new perspective. Hopefully, it’s resulted in a better collection than I could have released in early 2021.
I’m grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to work with and know many smart, authentic people in the years I’ve been working so far.
And I’m grateful that some of them, whenever I’ve had the courage to admit what I’m doing, have offered encouragement.
No one’s experience of the corporate world is perfect. My hope is that this book will offer some little distraction, commiseration, and perspective, no matter the type of day you’re having.
I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to write this book and hope you’ll enjoy it.
Contents
Venture: Capitalism
The Last Watchman
Living the Dream
Adult Children of Adults
Good Enough
TEAMWORK
The Pitch
Abandoned Ship
Limericks Found in Men’s Restrooms, Part 1
Life as Meditation
Per Diem Consultant
Follow the Sun
Showing Work
Line in the Sand
My Muse & I Went to the Company Picnic
Shutdown
Even now
Super 8
Limericks Found in Men’s Restrooms, Part 2
Hourly Status: Delayed
Point of Escalation
Family secret
Lotto Bias
Remixing the Last Scavenger
Echo Chamber
Auto-recovery
Those who can, do
Shutdown Startup
Limericks Found in Men’s Restrooms, Part 3
A good customer is hard to find
Taking Credit
On Dentistry
Life is But a Dream
Ask forgiveness
summertime
A Course in Miracles
Third degree
A Singular Feat
The First Job
Constellations
The New Solitude
Oculus Quest of the Mind
43 Folders
Designated Survivor
How to Be Heard
On Determination
Appendix: 53 Slides that Are Absolutely Critical to the Main Presentation