Pectoris Corp.
A Spoon River Anthology project in progress, exploring a fictional Swedish medtech company.
WIKIPEDIA: “Spoon River Anthology (1915), by Edgar Lee Masters, is a collection of short, free verse poems that collectively narrates the epitaphs of the residents of Spoon River, a fictional small town named after the real Spoon River that ran near Masters’ home town. The aim of the poems is to demystify the rural, small town American life. The collection includes two hundred and twelve separate characters, all providing two-hundred forty-four accounts of their lives, losses, and manner of death. Many of the poems contain cross-references that create an unabashed tapestry of the community. The poems were originally published in the magazine Reedy’s Mirror.”
#1: “… like a huge spreadsheet of human futility”
A big organization run by abstractions and staff policy is a great place to hide in plain sight. Keep a low profile, do your job well without questioning its value and you will have a safe haven for years.
#9: “I will never forget the dim lobby, void and silent in the after-hours”
What happened at the conference? The company gossip scrutinizes and judges every disclosed story but rarely manages to see the true motivation. People make stupid decisions – sometimes out of irresponsibility, sometimes out of desperation. The quote at the end is from T. S. Eliot – who else?
#10: “I remember the day when the CEO turned to me to address his disappointment”
We all have our crosses to bear. That’s a reason as good as any to not judge your fellow human beings. This poem is an amalgamation of different people’s experience. The migraine could just as well be epilepsy, panic disorder, IBS or any other lifelong condition/curse.
#11: “I still remember the brightness of our Sunday afternoons at the airport hotel”
The corporate corridors are just an extension of the schoolyard. The gossip is just as cruel, and the lonely victim just as exposed. The ones who get too close with members outside their tribe will always be observed, evaluated and punished by their peers.
#12: “I could wade through the flood of details and correlations and find the islands of simplicity”
How come modern workplaces leave so little room for individual styles of getting things done? Some people work better when others are present, others want to find a silent corner. Some people do things in the most apparent order, others need to find their own path to the mountain top of completion. As I see it, this is one of the main reasons for becoming a freelance: to be allowed to be productive in your own way.