The Start-Up

That’s what start-ups are like

Claims the enabler

You must follow the rules

You must follow my lead

You must attend my meetings

Au garde à vous!

You have a creative mind

Your experiments and results are

Fundamental to our success

But

You must conform

You must grovel

You must submit

We will lowball you

We will gaslight you

We will invalidate you

We will push you out

Self-sabotaging

Egos run the show

Insecurities roar

I feel the tar on my skin

The stickiness on my feet

I keep tripping

I need all my skills to stay erect

So I’ll use a bit of acetone

To dissolve the tar

To free my feet

I’ll open the door

And I’ll tell them

With a smile on my face

“I resign”