On behalf of A. E. Stallings, here is an early poem of hers that appeared in Light:
SECRETARIES' DAY
Rejoice! The copier is jammed!
Pour toner down the sink!
Originality, long damned,
Recovers from the brink.
Let us take no messages
Or prisoners. Be bold!
Delete important passages!
Put all the phones on hold!
Sing out! The hard drives all have crashed,
We'll process no more words!
We'll leave them raw and freely gashed,
And feed them to the birds!
Alas. The copier's repaired,
The hard drive's up. Be brave:
We'll beg so that our jobs are spared.
We'll promise to behave.
The sun is out. The sky is teal --
Yet there are "if'S" and "but's"
(And other wounds as slow to heal
And thin as paper cuts).
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