M. A. Schaffner, 4/22/2013
Current Occupation: Writer and part time history instructor.
Former Occupation: Federal civil servant, working in personnel and budget, and on agency staff.
Contact Information: M. A. Schaffner has work recently published or forthcoming in The Hollins Critic, Magma, Tulane Review, Gargoyle, and The Delinquent. Other writings include the poetry collection The Good Opinion of Squirrels, and the novel War Boys. Schaffner spends most days in Arlington, Virginia or the 19th century.
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Ordeal By Flipchart
Wacky or evil, that is the question:
how we perform in our workday vaudeville.
Apres nous, le stooge, if any apres
is possible without more focus groups.
It is a popularity contest
adjudicated by the least secure
in their lives and sacred horror. It is
a steady spiral in a bottomless pit
of ineptitude: they say they’re swimming
as silliness sucks them down in a swirl
of multicolored markers. What is life?
You have fifteen minutes to talk it through
with the rest of your group, five minutes to report,
eternity to groan aloud in pain.
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