(Unemployment inspired this. At least I got something out of it.)

Unemployment – Manifesto II

An economy still broke and much shattered,
With jobs growth negative and much splattered,
And no real plan from the Washington wimps
As we elected not visionary giants, but shrimps

91 million unemployed and monthly growing,
With the Washington BS they’re still throwing,
We’ve been through this last year and before then
And it just seems like Yogi’s deju vu all over again

Reality hits immediate, fantasy can take a while,
Now, realizing “Hope & Change” was poisonous bile;
Trading entitlements for votes… forever stagnation
Instead of prioritizing the economy, jobs creation

I was a strategic marketer with success repeatedly,
Saying it only once here avoids waxing conceitedly,
Creating value through an integrated marketing mix,
Rebuilding programs of straw, into those of bricks

I created awareness and customer engagement too,
Differentiation from competitors, so proud to ensue,
Multi-channel campaigns to help support your brand,
Shrinking budgets = doing more with sleight-of-hand

But shrinking budgets sometimes include your name,
As layoffs loom, job loss gloom, after they take aim,
Speaking of which… dammit, please say it isn’t so,
Suddenly, no job and a barb-studded road to hoe

Ouch, reality hurts and loudly screaming again,
I was hoping I was definitely dreaming, when
That horrific message shotgunned into my head,
And yellingly telling me “this is all real,” it said

Looking daily for a job is similar to having one,
Like a rollercoaster ride but without all the fun,
Looking daily for a job is dealing with damnation
And putting in the work but without remuneration

Obsession with the job search sites daily looms,
A cache of opportunities, a plethora, one assumes,
But all the sites, “offer” the same damn information,
Anything new, and if what you do, is an aberration

The online app process is unparalleled frustration,
e.g., after an hour of work, my app faced elimination,
my years of success didn’t harbor their education,
I’ll say it once… applying online… an abomination

The job search site you’re on Cannot Display the Page,
Cyberspace dependency… the indignity… the rage,
Programming out of sync… another parsing error,
Unemployment Industry in control, a reign-of-terror

Unemployment’s a killer, an Opportunistic Infection,
Please… it’s a disease, peeling away prior protection,
A disease not biological, but Federal in origination
By Washington incompetence… de-Americanization

Livelihood loss, a whiplashed changing of stakes,
A career moving quickly to putting on the brakes,
Unemployment is vulnerability… being in the buff,
A state that’s almost evil and certainly not enough

Unemployment… its denizens untrusting and wary,
A simultaneous dimension, but quite real and scary,
Crippling, claustrophobic, not for those thin-skinned,
Good news is elusive… like trying to catch the wind

The bad emails aren’t at all allotted proportionately
As these emails start with the word “Unfortunately,”
But have no worries, and, please, have no such fear,
They claim they’ll “hold your resume one full year”

Empathy-less… the imperial Unemployment Industry,
You remaining needy, and they’ll salute to victory,
Monster and The Ladders celebrate in sweet style,
You’re quagmired and jobless… they say “sieg heil.”

Unemployment redone, seems it’s my new career
So don’t look for me outside, since I’ll now be in here,
Freddy Krueger, True Blood, whatever is the rage
But they’re not as scary as unemployment this age

However, before I take leave, I’ll leave you with this,
‘Cause if I didn’t pass it along, I’d be mired in remiss,
I’ve discovered today that negativity isn’t the answer
As it destroys both resiliency and resolve, like cancer

Moving onward, negativity effect, notwithstanding,
I’m nobody, so not attempting to be reprimanding
But escaping is more than planning on luck to shine,
Hard work is the key, as luck is just residue of design

Looking for work is work; for now, a fulltime vocation,
Perseverance, attitudinal clearance and manifestation,
Luck could happen, however, not the way of roulette
But in the saying, “the harder I work, the luckier I get.”

It’s apt, given, to decry this temporarily jobless detour,
Full-speed on the pity circuit while on the grand tour,
Ranting… accepting… changing the angle of reflection,
And, eventually, it’s time for treatment… a disinfection

Earlier due bluster aside, it pays to lessen enragement,
Get tenacious; expand your network, and engagement,
Do a quick assessment, damage control after the quake
And get the hell out of your own way, for God’s sake

Yes, looking for work is work… a humbling of bravado
But it’s more than networking and LinkedIn aficionado,
It’s more external sources, a control of internal forces
(and longing to put human back in Human Resources)

I’m a successful marketer… a terrible thing to waste,
I live your brand, acquiring and retaining, post-haste,
My added value… numerous hats and titles in-force,
My real value? I do all of it… for one salary, of course

I can pinpoint the motivation, and it has been a kick
To compose something like this… a purge, a cathartic,
Writing this wasn’t the problem but what to do with it,
I feel a bit better already, and no longer have to s*it